Lake Forest, Ill. - Wheaton senior linebacker Eric Stevenson was honored on Monday night with the NFF Mental Toughness Award. Stevenson was one of four collegiate players to receive the award, joining University of Illinois running back Reggie Corbin, Northwestern University running back Chad Hanaoka, and Illinois State University defensive lineman Matthew Swaine. The event was hosted in partnership by the Chicago Metro Chapter of the National Football Foundation (NFF) as well as the Chicago Bears.

Stevenson was a 2018 NFF Scholar-Athlete, and a finalist for the 2018 William V. Campbell Trophy, which annually recognizes an individual as the best football scholar-athlete in the nation. As one of 13 finalists for the Campbell Trophy, Stevenson received an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 60th NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class.

Stevenson holds a 3.83 cumulative grade point average as an Economics major at Wheaton. The three-year starter plans to pursue a MBA following his graduation in May. A 2018 D3football.com Preseason, All-American, Stevenson earned Second Team CoSIDA Academic All-America recognition in 2017. A 2017 All-CCIW First Team selection at linebacker, Stevenson led the Thunder in total tackles in his sophomore and junior seasons and he leads the Wheaton defense this year with 64 total tackles. He was a CoSIDA Academic All-District and D3football.com All-North Region performer in 2017. Stevenson is a three-time Academic All-CCIW selection and was Wheaton's male recipient of the Jack Swartz award in both 2017 (fall) and 2016 (fall).

Stevenson, the 2018 CCIW Don Larson Defensive Player of the Year is a two-time First Team All-CCIW honoree. The senior  is a unanimous Division III First Team All-American this season, earning selection to all three Division III All-American Teams: American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Associated Press and D3football.com. He was named a semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy and was this year's only Division III finalist for the Campbell Trophy.  Stevenson was named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Team for the second-consecutive season to become the first Wheaton football player to repeat as an Academic All-American since 1995

Stevenson made a team-high 74 total tackles this fall, including 41 solo stops. The senior registered 9.5 tackles for lost yardage (-29 yards), including two quarterback sacks (-13 yards). 

Wheaton's leading tackler in each of the past three seasons, Stevenson made 268 career tackles, including 150 solo tackles. The linebacker made 27 tackles for loss (-79 yards) in his career, with 5-1/2 sacks (-27 yards).