Bowl Trophy

The New Mexico Bowl trophy is one of the most unique in all of college sports. It is a Native American clay pot meticulously handcrafted by artists Marcellus and Elizabeth Media from the Zia Pueblo. The 20-inch bowl-shaped pottery features the iconic Zia sun symbol and images of football players, a deer, mountain lion, buffalo and eagle.

Elizabeth hand-coils and fires the pottery at the couple’s home studio and her husband, Marcellus, paints the clay trophies. Using a white base coat on the pot makes the Zia patterns stand out after being hand-painted in black. His final touch is colored acrylic paints depicting football players in classic game stances and logos for the participating teams, not to mention the New Mexico Bowl insignia. At top market value, the pots would sell for an estimated $2,500.

The New Mexico Bowl stuck with the unconventional for its Outstanding Offensive and Defensive Player Awards. They went to another Zia Pueblo artist, Ralph Aragon, who crafted the trophies from traditional leather shields.

Jeff Siembieda, New Mexico Bowl Executive Director, found all three artists in 2006 when he traveled to the pueblo, located approximately 30 miles northwest of Albuquerque, looking for permission to use the Zia sun in its logo. The tribal leaders gave there consent and in return, asked that Zia art be used for the awards.

 

Team
Trophy Winners

2006: San Jose State (WAC)

2007: New Mexico (MWC)

2008: Colorado State (MWC)

2009: Wyoming (MWC)

2010: BYU (MWC)

2011: Temple (MAC)

2012: Arizona (Pac-12)

2013: Colorado State (MWC)

2014: Utah State (MWC)

2015: Arizona (Pac-12)

2016: New Mexico (MWC)

2017: Marshall (C-USA)

2018: Utah State (MWC)

2019: San Diego State (MWC)

2020: Hawai’i (MWC)

Outstanding Offensive
Player Honorees

2006: James Jones, Sr., WR, SJSU

2007: Donovan Porterie, RS-Fr., QB, UNM

2008: Gartrell Johnson, Sr., RB, CSU

2009: Austyn Carta-Samuels, Fr., QB, UWyo

2010: Jake Heaps, Fr., QB, BYU

2011: Chris Coyer, So., QB, TEM

2012: Matt Scott, Sr., QB, ARIZ

2013: Connor Halliday, Jr., QB, WSU

2014: Kent Myers, Fr., QB, USU

2015: Anu Solomon, RS-So., QB, ARIZ

2016: Lamar Jordan, Jr., QB, UNM

2017: Tyre Brady, RS-Jr., WR, Marshall

2018: Jordan Love, So., QB,  Utah State

2019: Jordan Byrd, So., RB & Jesse Matthews, Fr., WR, SDSU

2020: Calvin Turner, Sr., RB, Hawai’i

Outstanding Defensive
Player Honorees

2006: Matt Castelo, Jr., LB, SJSU

2007: Brett Madsen, Jr., LB, UNM

2008: Tommie Hill, Sr., DE, CSU

2009: Mitch Unrein, Sr., DL, UWyo

2010: Andrew Rich, Sr., S, BYU

2011: Tahir Whitehead, Sr., LB, TEM

2012: Marquis Flowers, Jr., LB, ARIZ

2013: Shaquil Barrett, Sr., DE, CSU

2014: Zach Vigil, Sr., LB, USU

2015: Scooby Wright, III, Jr., MLB, ARIZ

2016: Dakota Cox, Sr. , LB, UNM

2017: Channing Hames, RS-So., DT, Marshall

2018: DJ Williams, Jr., DB,   Utah State

2019: Kyahva Tezino, Sr., LB, SDSU

2020: Darius Muasau, So., LB, Hawai’i