Stanford Cardinal Receiver Elic Ayomanor Added to Award Watch List

On Tuesday, Elic Ayomanor, was added to the Biletnikoff Award watch list, recognizing college football's most outstanding receiver.

Stanford Cardinal No. 1 receiver, Elic Ayomanor, was added to the Biletnikoff Award watch list on Tuesday.

The award recognizes the most outstanding receiver in college football, regardless of position. 

However, being recognized as Stanford's No. 1 wide out did not come easy to Ayomanor, it took a lot of adversity and recovery during his football journey. 

“It’s definitely been a long journey,” Ayomanor said during a telephone interview. “When you’re chasing your dreams and what you want to do in life, you’re going to have to persevere in some sense and so it’s been that for me."

Stanford WR Elic Ayomanor / John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

Ayomanor left his native land, Canada, at a young age in order to attend high school in the United States. 

He received multiple offers from such schools as Arizona, Yale, Princeton, Iowa, Tennessee and Notre Dame, but after a long process of weighing his choices, he found his home at Stanford, not only for its football program, but for its academics.

“My mom and I talked it through regarding my goals and agreed I wanted to be able to play at a school that would give me an opportunity at the NFL,” Ayomanor said. “However, if I got hurt or something happened where I couldn’t play football anymore I still wanted to get a very high-level education.

Due to a knee injury last, he was unable to play during his freshman-year campaign, but now, Ayomanor is being recognized nationally for his field performances through being named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list.

Just this season, Ayomanor has recorded a total of 737 yards from 45 receptions, averaging 16.4 yards per catch. On top of that, the star receiver has made it to the end zone five times. 

Ten semifinalists of the Biletnikoff Award will be announced on Nov. 20 and the winner will be declared on Nov. 28.