Jimmy Morrissey came to Pitt as a walk-on in the summer of 2016. Now he’s leaving the Panthers as a four-year starter at center, a scholarship player and the winner of the Burlsworth Trophy.

The Burlsworth Trophy is presented annually to the best former walk-on in college football. Morrissey, BYU wide receiver Dax Milne and Arkansas linebacker Grant Morgan were the finalists this year.

Among former walk-ons, Morrissey certainly stands out. The Huntingdon Valley (Pa.) native redshirted as a freshman walk-on in 2016, but in 2017 he won the battle for the vacant starting job at center. That earned him a scholarship, and he held onto the position - and the scholarship - for the next four years.

Save for the final three games of the 2018 season when he was out due to injury, Morrissey made 47 starts from 2017-20. 46 of those came at center, with the lone exception being Pitt’s loss at Boston College this past season when Morrissey moved to right guard to replace an injured Jake Kradel.

2020 also the second consecutive season that Morrissey has been a Pitt captain.

Morrissey was named to the All-ACC first team in 2019, the all-conference second team this year and the league’s third team in 2018. He has also been a three-time selection to the All-ACC Academic Football Team and is a member of Pitt’s Blue-Gold Society.

Now he is the 11th winner in the history of the Burlsworth Trophy, which was first presented in 2010 in memory and honor of Brandon Burlsworth, a walk-on offensive lineman at Arkansas in the mid-1990’s who became an All-American and a third-round pick in the 1999 NFL Draft.

Burlsworth died in a car accident less than two weeks after the Draft. The University of Arkansas set up an endowment in his name that presents 18 $5,000 academic scholarships and a $10,000 athletic scholarship for one walk-on each year, according to the Burlsworth Trophy website.

Previous winners of the Burlsworth Trophy include Georgia Tech center Sean Bedford (2010), Southern Miss quarterback Austin Davis (2011), Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin (2012), Wisconsin receiver Jared Abbrederis (2013), East Carolina receiver Justin Hardy (2014), Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield (2015 and 2016), Washington State quarterback Luke Falk (2017), Clemson receiver Hunter Renfrow (2018) and Michigan State defensive end Kenny Willekes (2019).