STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford sixth-year quarterback Davis Warren was named a Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year semifinalist on Wednesday. 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.
Beyond football, Warren has become a passionate advocate for cancer patients, building lasting relationships with young patients and their families through regular hospital visits. He has continued this work at Stanford by organizing visits to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, using his personal experience to encourage and support children facing serious health challenges.
Warren's journey to The Farm is remarkable. As a junior at Loyola High School in Los Angeles, Warren was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Warren underwent four rounds of chemotherapy, and his body responded positively, ruling out the need for a bone marrow transplant. He reclassified to the Class of 2021, playing his final season of high school football at the Peddie School in New Jersey.
His return to football caught the eye of former Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football Jim Harbaugh, who was the head coach at Michigan. He offered Warren a spot on the roster as a walk-on, one that Warren accepted rather than playing at a smaller institution. He made his collegiate debut as a sophomore in 2022 and played in eight total games from 2022-23.
Following Michigan's 2023 National Championship, Warren beat Alex Orji for the starting quarterback job in 2024 and started nine games, throwing for 1,199 yards with seven touchdowns. He tore his ACL in the team's 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl win over Alabama and missed the 2025 season. Warren transferred to Stanford in the winter.
Since joining Stanford, Warren has been one of the best in the league when it comes to taking care of the ball. Most notably, Warren began the season with 167 pass attempts before throwing his first interception. That was the longest streak in FBS, and it tied a Stanford record for the most pass attempts without an interception to begin a season, joining Davis Mills, who did so in 2020. Warren leads the ACC in passing attempts (234) and has thrown just two interceptions.Â
Including Warren, there are just nine FBS quarterbacks with at least 200 passing attempts and two or fewer interceptions. Warren also ranks sixth in the ACC in passing yards (1,630) and is coming off a game against Elon where he set a career high in completions (27) and posted his best completion percentage as a Cardinal (69.2%).
Three finalists will be named for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award on Tuesday, December 15. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on March 11, 2027.
Warren and Stanford take on the NC State Wolfpack Friday, Oct. 23 at Stanford Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN with Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst), and Morgan Uber (sideline reporter) on the call.Â