NORMAN — University of Oklahoma defensive lineman Ethan Downs was selected to the 2023 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, the organizations announced Tuesday. He was the only selection from the Big 12 Conference.
 
Downs is part of the prestigious group of 22 college football players selected for their extraordinary commitment to making a lasting impact off the field. He is one of 11 FBS student-athletes to earn Good Works Team recognition for his contributions to the community and world at large.
 
A junior from Weatherford, Okla., Downs has embraced a leadership role on the OU football team and has taken part in multiple leadership and service activities as a Sooner, both in local communities and around the world.
 
Last spring, Downs launched an ambitious effort to help OU students, faculty and staff in need by encouraging donations of food, clothing, books, funds and sanitary products to the OU Food Pantry. The G.I.V.E. Mission (Greatness in Various Efforts), established as a competition between other athletics teams and campus Greek organizations, became the largest food drive in the history of the pantry, resulting in more than 4,000 pounds of donations from more than 30 organizations.

Downs donated time each of the last two years to participate in service trips to South Africa and Brazil in 2023 and Miami Gardens, Fla., in 2022. Upon returning from South Africa in April, Downs and some of his teammates collectively decided to create a direct funding website designed to send money to organizations in need around the world. On the service trip to Miami Gardens, Fla., in summer 2022, he and teammates helped with an elementary school beautification project and mentored students and encouraged them to attain academic excellence. The school's principal cited him specifically for his uncommon leadership.
 
Similarly, Downs traveled to Brazil during 2023 spring break for a work study course/service trip in which he and other members of OU's football and volleyball teams focused their efforts on supporting and constructing a school in a favela (shantytown).
 
As part of the Cavett Kids Foundation, Downs has served as a counselor in week-long camps and short events held for children and youth battling life-threatening illnesses. He also participated in "Art With a Heart OKC" in February 2022 and 2023 (a philanthropic event benefiting the Oklahoma Children's Cancer Association, Cavett Kids Foundation and the K Club). Downs has traveled the state as part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, speaking more than a dozen times to students at elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges, aiming to emotionally and spiritually inspire Christian athletes. He held multiple autograph sessions in which he donated at least $875 of earnings to his hometown's Connections Food and Resource Center (in Weatherford, Okla.). He also spoke at a D.A.R.E. graduation for an elementary school in his hometown in March 2022.

Downs has played in all 28 of Oklahoma's games each of his two-plus seasons, including starts in all 13 contests in 2022 as a true sophomore and this past Saturday's game vs. SMU. He earned second-team All-Big 12 honors from the league's coaches last season after leading the Sooners and ranking fourth in the conference with 13.5 tackles for loss. More than one-third of his 38 tackles went for lost yardage in 2022. He tied for the team lead with 4.5 sacks and led the squad with nine QB hurries, recovered a fumble and was credited with three pass breakups. He has registered five total tackles and one sack so far this season.
 
Downs is the seventh Oklahoma football player named to the AFCA Good Works Team, joining Jacob Gutierrez (2006), Nic Harris (2007), Gerald McCoy (2008), Quinton Carter (2010), Caleb Kelly (2018) and Chanse Sylvie (2020).
 
Fans are encouraged to visit ESPN.com/Allstate to vote for the 2023 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team captain now through Nov. 22. Throughout the season, fans can follow along and join in on the conversation by using #GoodWorksTeam on their social media channels.
 
The Allstate AFCA Good Works Team was established in 1992 by the College Football Association to recognize extra efforts by players and student support staff off the field. AFCA became the governing body of the award in 1997 and continues to honor players who go the extra mile for those in need. Allstate became the presenting sponsor starting with the 2008 season.