The 78th William E. Hume Award Finalist class of 2021 was recently announced by Metro Nashville Public Schools. The Hume Award recognizes the most outstanding scholar-athlete who is a senior football player in a Metro School. The Hume Award is the oldest scholar-athlete award given to a  Middle Tennessee senior athlete.

Athletes are nominated by their respective schools based on the following characteristics: academic success, football ability, and value to the team. To be nominated by one’s school is a huge honor, to be chosen as one of the top 5 scholar-athletes in the MNPS school district speaks not just to the students’ success but to the success as a school and a family.

While attending a football game at West High School, Mr. William E. Hume, a prominent Nashville attorney and Chairman of the City Board of Education, remarked to Mr. W. A. Bass,  then Superintendent of Nashville City Schools, that some recognition should be given to the fine young men participating in the game of football in the Nashville schools.

At that time, two school districts existed in Davidson County: city schools and county schools. Until 1965, the Hume award was presented only to city schools which included Howard, West, East, Pearl, Hume Fogg, North, and Cohn High Schools. Following the incorporation of all of Davidson County in 1964, the Hume award was expanded to include all of Davidson County’s high schools.

Each year,  every MNPS high school with a football team nominates one scholar-athlete. These nominees are reviewed by a committee composed of school administrators, football officials, and area sportswriters. Five finalists are chosen to represent that year’s class and the winning player and school are named at a banquet sponsored by one of Nashville’s civic clubs. Each year the award is presented by either the Civitan Club, the Kiwanis Club or the Rotary Club.

The original trophy has each winner’s name engraved on it and is presented to the winning school for the duration of the school year and a new winner is named.

 2021 – 2022  WILLIAM E. HUME AWARD NOMINEES