Missouri football's Cody Schrader adds to his impeccable story, wins Burlsworth Trophy Award

Missouri football's Cody Schrader has added to his impeccable story with a nationwide honor on Monday.

Schrader won the 2023 Burlsworth Trophy at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, as part of the live award ceremony broadcast on YouTube.

The Burlsworth Trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding college football player at the FBS level who began his career as a walk-on. The Brandon Burlsworth Foundation first awarded the honor after the 2010 season.

In his acceptance speech, Schrader said he wanted the main takeaway from his story to be for younger players to never allow anything to stop them from trying to achieve their dreams.

"It wasn't easy, it definitely had a lot of lonely nights," Schrader said accepting the award. "The only thing I stayed true to was the work."

More: How 'Superman' Cody Schrader vaulted himself into Heisman contention, MU record books

Schrader won the honor over James Madison University's James Carpenter and the University of Oklahoma's Drake Stoops.

Still, Schrader showed his lighter side. When he took to the podium to accept the award, Schrader got off a quick joke.

"First I want to say thanks for safely allowing me back in the state of Arkansas," Schrader joked just weeks after gouging the Arkansas Razorbacks for 217 rushing yards and a touchdown in MU's regular-season finale win.

Schrader's story has since hit the national level. His example of starting as a Division II player at Truman State, earning a scholarship at MU and eventually leading the SEC in rushing has become the talk of the conference.

That story is now honored at the national level.

Schrader cemented himself as a player with a remarkable talent in 2022 when he earned the starting running back job as a walk-on from Truman State. He elevated himself to one of the best players in the nation in 2023.

"Just seeing where I came from, and then, you know, having a team and brotherhood — you can feel that real love in the locker room," Schrader said after Missouri defeated Tennessee on Nov. 11. "That's something you always look for, and I'm just extremely blessed to be a part of this team, and I won’t ever forget it for the rest of my life.”

The senior running back decimated Tennessee with a 321 total-yard game, 205 of those total yards were rush yards. That led to his head coach advocating him for the Heisman Trophy.

"If you're talking about the best player in college football who's done more for his football team than anybody else. He's the leading rusher in the SEC," Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said after MU's win over Tennessee. "When's the last time the leading rusher in the SEC on a top 10 team wasn't considered for the Heisman?"

"The guy shows up in the biggest games on the biggest stages."

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football's Cody Schrader wins 2023 Burlsworth Trophy Award