Stanford sixth-year quarterback Davis Warren was named a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award on Wednesday, Oct. 21, according to Stanford Athletics.
Warren is among 20 players under consideration for the honor, sponsored by Albertsons and Tom Thumb. The award’s organizers describe it as college football’s first award centered primarily on leadership in competition and beyond it.
Warren’s path to Stanford Stadium started with a cancer diagnosis. As a junior at Loyola High School in Los Angeles, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. After four rounds of chemotherapy, he did not need a bone marrow transplant, according to Stanford. He returned to football at the Peddie School in New Jersey and later reclassified to the Class of 2021.
His return caught the attention of Jim Harbaugh, then head coach at Michigan, who offered Warren a walk-on spot. Warren accepted rather than playing at a smaller school. His first college appearance came in 2022 as a sophomore. Over that season and the next, he appeared in eight games.
Warren won Michigan’s starting job in 2024, starting nine games and throwing for 1,199 yards with seven touchdowns. He tore his ACL in the team’s ReliaQuest Bowl win over Alabama and missed the 2025 season before transferring to Stanford.
Stanford’s Oct. 21 announcement highlighted Warren’s low interception total this season. He opened the season with 167 consecutive pass attempts before throwing his first interception, tying a Stanford record set by Davis Mills in 2020.
Warren led the ACC in passing attempts with 234 and had thrown just two interceptions as of the announcement. Only eight other FBS quarterbacks with at least 200 attempts could match that interception total or fewer.
He also ranked sixth in the ACC in passing yards with 1,630. In his most recent game against Elon, Warren set a career high in completions (27) and posted his best completion percentage as a Cardinal (69.2%).
Off the field, Warren has organized visits to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, drawing on his own experience as a cancer patient to support children facing serious health challenges, according to Stanford Athletics.
Organizers plan to narrow the field to three finalists Dec. 15 and announce the winner March 11, 2027, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Warren and Stanford host NC State at Stanford Stadium on Friday, Oct. 23, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time. The game will air on ESPN.
