MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Five Morehead State football student-athletes who rose to the top among the team have been awarded the 2020-21 team awards.

The Phil Simms Offensive Most Valuable Player is senior wide receiver BJ Byrd. The Dave Haverdick Defensive MVP is senior linebacker Vincent Winey, and the John Christopher Special Teams MVP is senior kicker/punter Andrew Foster. Those three awards are voted on by coaches and student-athletes.

The Appel Academic Award is junior offensive lineman Cameron Marriott, and the Mike Gottfried C3 Award was awarded to senior linebacker Cameron Barrett.

The award namesakes honor some of the best and brightest student-athletes and a coach in Morehead State history.

Byrd finished as the PFL leader in receiving touchdowns with eight, scoring with 54 points accounted for, kick return touchdowns with one, and total touchdowns with nine leading to his unanimous selection as First-Team All-PFL. The senior wide receiver also made the All-PFL second-team as an all-purpose player. The Richmond, Calif., native racked up 734 all-purpose yards on the season. The Jacksonville transfer was also named the PFL Co-Special Teams Player of the Week after his performance against Butler at home where he caught two touchdowns and returned a kickoff for a score too. 

Winey, a native of Lindenhurst, N.Y., led Morehead State with 84 total tackles with 41 of them being solo and seven for loss. He ranked second in the league in total tackles. The senior also forced and recovered a fumble. Winey was named PFL Defensive Player of the Week after his program single-game record performance, 23 total tackles, against Butler at home. He had double-digit tackles in five of the seven games.

Foster, from Knoxville, Tenn., logged 36 punts and averaged 41.4 yards per punt. He averaged 40 or more yards on punts for the third consecutive season. He also boomed six punts of 50+ yards and landed six inside the opponent 20-yard line. Foster connected on 21 PATs and two field goals. Foster was named to the 2021 All-Commonwealth Team.

Marriott has earned a 3.92 GPA in political science. From Redlands, Calif., he blocked for a unit that generated 335 yards on offense per game in PFL contests. The junior started all seven games this season. He graded out as one of the top offensive linemen on the team and was named First-Team All-PFL. Marriott was also named First-Team Academic All-PFL for the second consecutive season.

Barrett, from Dayton, Ky., has a 3.83 GPA in marketing. He finished 2021 with 46 tackles, including four for losses. His total stops ranked second on the team. Barrett also collected two interceptions and recovered a fumble. He returned one pick-off 75 yards for a touchdown at Butler. Barrett was named Honorable Mention All-PFL. Barrett was named First-Team Academic All-PFL and was an Academic All-District selection by CoSIDA in 2019.