CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Football's Isaiah Kacyvenski '00 has been named one of six recipients of the 2025 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, the NCAA announced today.
At its convention in January, the NCAA will honor six former student-athletes for their outstanding collegiate and professional achievements.
The Silver Anniversary Award recipients are recognized on the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of their college athletics careers. The awardees were nominated by administrators at their undergraduate school and are selected by a panel of former student-athletes and representatives from NCAA member schools and conferences.
The 2025 recipients are Danielle Donehew, Kacyvenski, Matt Kuchar, Keiko Price, Ronda Jo Miller and Kerri Walsh Jennings. The awardees will be celebrated Tuesday, Jan. 14, at the NCAA Convention Welcome and Awards Presentation in Nashville, Tennessee.
Isaiah Kacyvenski '00 Profile
School: Harvard
Majors: Environmental science and public policy (premed)
Sport: Football
As a student-athlete: Isaiah Kacyvenski was a four-year starting linebacker for Harvard's football team and a three-time All-Ivy first-team honoree. He set the program's single-season and career records for tackles and helped lead the Crimson to an Ivy League championship in 1997. In his senior year, Kacyvenski earned first-team All-America honors and was named Harvard's Male Athlete of the Year. Kacyvenski became the first player in Harvard football history to start all 40 games of his career, and he graduated cum laude in 2000.
As a professional: After being selected in the fourth round of the 2000 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks, Kacyvenski enjoyed an eight-year NFL career. This included serving as special teams captain of the Seahawks and playing in Super Bowl XL. After his retirement, Kacyvenski co-founded the Sports Innovation Lab and Will Ventures, focusing on sports technology and athlete health. A trailblazer for brain injury research, Kacyvenski was among the first NFL players to agree to donate their brains to the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy to help advance research on concussions and brain health.
