BC Football Player Earns Military Award
Criminal justice major, football player, military veteran, coffee shop owner, community service leader, and the list goes on. What is it that Bluefield College student Collin O’Donnell doesn’t do?
Recently O’Donnell was awarded the 2020 Armed Forces Merit Award, an award presented annually to an individual with a military background who has greatly impacted college football and his community. Outclassing more than 41 other nominees was no problem for O’Donnell as he has overcome much adversity in his lifetime.
Presented by the Football Writers Association of America, the Armed Forces Merit Award, previously awarded to players such as Brandon McCoy and Nate Boyer, has become a very popular award in the military/college football world. The award was first presented in June 2012, and this year O’Donnell was nominated and selected based upon the leadership he has demonstrated both in the community and on the football field.
“He’s just the type of person you can count on in any given situation,” said Joshua Wright, one of his peers.
Bobby McBride, another one of O’Donnell’s peers and fellow teammates said, “He loves his community, and he makes it better for all of us by paving the way and giving people someone to look up to.”
A native of Buffalo, NY, O’Donnell has overcome much adversity in his lifetime, including almost losing his foot after being exposed to toxic waste while cleaning up a blast site during military duty in Afghanistan. He was flown to Germany and then to the United States where he spent almost two full years recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
O’Donnell has fully recovered from that injury and progressed so much from that unfortunate event as a result of his hard work. That same perseverance is what led to him being recognized for the Armed Forces Merit Award.
“Many people labor their entire life without being recognized for what they do, so I am most humbled to have received this amazing award,” O’Donnell said, “but it also makes me hungrier as well.”
O’Donnell’s life in his community is filled with a substantial amount of responsibility. He recently opened a coffee shop in downtown Bluefield, VA, with the hope of bringing the community closer together through something as common and simple as a freshly brewed cup of coffee. He also studied criminal justice at Bluefield College and is a member of the Rams varsity football team.
“I chose Bluefield College because it was one of the opportunities that I was offered that made me feel most at home,” O’Donnell said.
This past December, O’Donnell graduated from BC with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and is currently enrolled in BC’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) program for leadership. With his MBA, he hopes to expand his entrepreneurship footprint by launcing more companies. He also plans on studying law and has ambitions to someday serve the people as a political representative.
“He’s just the type of guy you need in your community as a whole,” said Dewey Lusk, head coach of the football team. “His heart is bigger than the stadium he plays in on Saturday afternoons, and having that type of person around is wonderful.”