Josh Kattus on Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Watch List
Kentucky senior tight end Josh Kattus was announced today as one of the 67 nominees for the ninth annual Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year award.
The award, presented by Albertsons and Tom Thumb, is the first college football honor to focus primarily on a player’s leadership both on and off the field. Leadership is a term synonymous with Jason Witten, who, in addition to becoming one of the best tight ends in the sport’s history, served as one of football’s most prominent role models during his 16-year pro career. In addition to winning the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2012, Witten also received the Bart Starr Award, Pro Football Weekly’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, Home Depot NFL Neighborhood MVP and the Bob Lilly Award, among many others. All of those honors have recognized his work in the community, achievements on the field and dedication to his teammates and family.
Kattus, a native of Cincinnati, embodies the very spirit of the Witten Award. The three-year letter winner has become a role model on and off the field through his unwavering commitment to service, humility and leadership by example.
In four games, he has been elected a game captain twice vs. Toledo and Ole Miss, and currently ranks second on the team in receptions (8) and third in receiving yards (112).
But his leadership extends far beyond the field, where he actively represents his teammates and fellow student-athletes at the highest levels. He currently represents UK Football on UK’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), is a member of the SEC Football Leadership Council and represents the SEC on the NCAA Football Oversight Committee’s Student-Athlete Connection Group.
“Ever since I was a kid, my parents encouraged me to chase my dreams — but they also placed a strong emphasis on giving back to the community,” Kattus said. “They always reminded me that college would give me a platform to help others, and that what I do off the field matters just as much as what I do on it.”
For the past two years, he has volunteered to participate in the “Dancing with the Lexington Stars” event. In 2024, he helped raise more than $34K for the Lexington Rotary Club Endowment Fund and Surgery on Sunday, a nonprofit that provides essential outpatient procedures at no cost to income-eligible individuals who are either uninsured or under-insured and do not qualify for federal or state assistance. In 2025, he helped raise close to $11K for Baby Health Services and the Rotary Club of Lexington’s scholarship and service initiatives. Baby Health Services provides free, quality preventative and primary healthcare to the uninsured children of Central Kentucky from birth through age 18.
He also is a weekly volunteer at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital, specifically at the DanceBlue Kentucky Children’s Hospital Hematology Oncology Clinic, where he visits with sick children, plays games or just hangs out.
“Josh has been such a positive light to pediatric cancer and blood disorder patients in the DanceBlue Clinic,” Jordan Heflin, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology RN at the DanceBlue Kentucky Children’s Hospital Hematology Oncology Clinic, said. “He is a very consistent volunteer, coming almost every Tuesday for the past three years. He is always happy to sit and play with a kid, sign an autograph, or take a picture. I am amazed at his commitment to bringing joy to these patients. Josh is a great football player, but I believe that he is an even better guy. I am so thankful that he continues to give back to these patients. A lot of the kids can’t go out to football games because of their treatments, but at least when they watch on TV, they can say that they know No. 84.”
Additionally, he has volunteered at Lexington’s Ronald McDonald House and at the Scott County Humane Society, helping find foster homes for pets and raising awareness of fostering.
Earlier this month, Kattus spearheaded a shoe drive that benefited Camp Horsin’ Around, a local nonprofit that enriches the lives of children whose health is compromised or who have special needs by collaborating with organized groups to provide an outdoor camp adventure.
For his outreach efforts, Kattus was named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and is a semifinalist for the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy.
Kattus also excels in the classroom and was recently named a semifinalist for the prestigious Campbell Trophy, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award. Kattus, who boasts a 3.789 grade point average, is on track to graduate in December with a degree in communication and an undergraduate certificate in business.
Twenty semifinalists will be selected by a subset of the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Selection Committee and announced on Tues., October 14. Three finalists will then be named for the award on Monday, December 15. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony at The Star in Frisco, Texas, on April 16, 2026.
The winner of the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year will also receive a $10,000 contribution in his name to his school’s athletic scholarship fund. The contribution will be made by Jason Witten’s SCORE Foundation, the official charity of Jason and his wife Michelle. The SCORE Foundation, founded in 2007, has positively impacted tens of thousands of children and families in Texas and Tennessee over the last 16 years. The foundation operates its nationally recognized SCOREkeepers program, which places trained male mentors on staff to work with children at family violence shelters, at nine shelters in the two states.
Kentucky has won the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award twice in eight years – J.J. Weaver of Kentucky in 2024 and Joshua Paschal of Kentucky in 2021. Other winners are: Shaquem Griffin of UCF in 2017, D’Cota Dixon of Wisconsin in 2018, Trey Smith of Tennessee in 2019, Sam Ehlinger of Texas in 2020, Deslin Alexandre of Pittsburgh in 2022, Mike Hollins of Virginia in 2023.
