West Virginia’s Zach Frazier, pictured, was named a first-team Academic All-American on Tuesday, one of 27 players to receive the honor. A second-team All-American, the award makes Frazier a two-time All-American this season.

MORGANTOWN — Maybe, if you want to forget about OJ Simpson, the Heisman Trophy is the top honor a college football player can leave with.

Maybe.

But Zach Frazier is leaving with one that may not get as much publicity, may not have as much pizzazz as the Heisman in the mind of the public, but to those who hold it, it is a sign of far-wider success than just being able to run with a football, throw a football, catch a football or make a tackle.

On Tuesday, in what is probably the final award he will take from college football in a highly decorated career, Zach Frazier, a product of Fairmont Senior High School and West Virginia University, was named a first-team Academic All-American.

The Academic All-America team is presented by the College Sports Communicators and does so not only for on-field excellence, but academic achievement, which means the players are rated equally as college students and as athletes.

Frazier was one of 27 players so honored in a sport that includes roughly 11,000 roster players at the Division 1 level.

A second-team All-American center, making him a two-time All-American, Frazier also recorded a 3.88 grade-point average as a sports management major and received his degree this year.

Considering his play on the field, where he earned All-Big 12 honors three times, Frazier anchored an offensive line led by all-power conference teams in rushing yardage at 228.9 yards per game and was No. 2 in the nation in allowing the fewest sacks of the quarterback with an average of just 0.75 per game.

Frazier led the team with 57 knockdown blocks — while missing the bowl game — and had 174 knockdowns over the past three seasons.

He ended his collegiate career with a spectacular play on the final drive of the season against Baylor. After completing his blocking assignment, he saw receiver Hudson Clement struggling to make a vital first down.

He hurried downfield and literally carried Clement to the first down while, at the end of the play, having someone land on him and breaking a bone in his foot.

Rather than get trainers on the field, which would have caused a runoff of vital time on the clock, he managed to crawl and limp off the field, allowing WVU to score the winning touchdown.

“This is how smart he is and how tough he is: he limps off the field because he knows that’s a 10-second runoff. I think that speaks to his intelligence, how tough he is and what a great player he is,” West Virginia coach Neal Brown said after the Baylor victory.

You might say he was an academic brainiac in addition to a football maniac.

Frazier was the 12th first-team Academic All-American and the 31st to receive the honor in the history of the award. The list of others includes quarterbacks Fred Wyant, Oliver Luck and Jeff Hostetler, tackle Sam Huff and another center, Mike Compton.

Frazier carried his excellence off the field when he was through with football, not only into the classroom but into the community, where he was active throughout the community.

“Last month Frazier was just the eighth player in school history to be named a finalist for the William V. Campbell Award, presented to college football’s most outstanding scholar-athlete. He received an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship,” — a press release from WVU said.

He also was a semifinalist for the Wuerffel Trophy, honoring college football’s most impactful leaders in the community and was a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Man of the Year Award as well.

Despite having missed the Duke’s Mayo Bowl win over North Carolina and missing out on participating at the Senior Bowl, one recent projection had him as second-round selection in the NFL draft, but that will be evaluated in workouts when the foot fully heals.