– Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph is the 2017 recipient of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, it was announced today.Candidates for the Golden Arm Award – which has been presented at the end of each college football season since 1987 – must be college seniors or fourth-year juniors on schedule to graduate with their class. In addition to the accomplishments on the field, candidates are judged on their character, citizenship, scholastic achievement, and leadership qualities."Winning the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is a meaningful honor for me because this is a reflection of how I was raised," Rudolph said. "I was taught from a young age that there is more to life than football and I'm thankful to the committee for selecting me. I am humbled and thankful to everyone who helped me get to this point."Also a finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award, Rudolph finished the regular season as the leading passer in the FBS, both in terms of passing yards (4,553) and passing yards per game (379.4) and he also leads the FBS in points responsible for (270) and points responsible for per game (22.5). He ranks second in the FBS in both total offense (4,582) and total offense per game (381.8). Both of those figures are the best among the three finalists for the Davey O'Brien Award.Rudolph is among the top five quarterbacks nationally in virtually every major statistical category and he headlines the nation's top-ranked passing offense and the highest-scoring offense from any of the Power Five conferences. The winningest quarterback in Oklahoma State history, Rudolph owns no fewer than 50 school records, with several more within reach at the bowl game.In addition to his list of on-field accomplishments, he is also Oklahoma State's most active player in community service activities. He is a regular participant in OSU's Coaches vs. Cancer program and makes frequent appearances at local elementary schools and churches."Mason represents our football program the right way. He's won a ton of games for us. He's played with broken ribs, he's played with a broken foot and he's been tremendous for this school and tremendous for society," Oklahoma State head coachsaid. "I had a conversation with his mom and dad and told them for everything that he's done (on the field), as a parent, you should be more proud of what he's done (in the community). He's awesome."Past Golden Arm Award winners include: Peyton Manning (Tennessee, 1997); Carson Palmer (USC, 2002); Eli Manning (Ole Miss, 2003); Matt Ryan (Boston College, 2007); Colt McCoy (Texas, 2009); Andrew Luck (Stanford, 2011), Marcus Mariota (Oregon, 2014), Connor Cook (Michigan State, 2015) and last year's winner Deshaun Watson, (Clemson, 2016).Rudolph will receive the 2017 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award at a ceremony to be held on Friday, December 8 at the Embassy Suites Baltimore Inner Harbor & The Grand in downtown Baltimore.