One of the Birmingham area’s top athletes has earned one more honor before beginning his collegiate football career.

Leeds athlete Conner Nelson has been overwhelmingly voted by fans as Alabama’s overall male athlete of the year.

He received 99% of the overall fan vote in last week’s poll, which included 10 other athletes from across the state.

Jackson football and basketball standout and state champion Landon Duckworth finished second, while Pisgah’s Luke Gilbert finished third; he claimed all-state honors in football, basketball and baseball for the Eagles.

Nelson, who starred in both football and baseball for the Green Wave this season, was also AL.com’s pick for Birmingham Region Male Athlete of the Year.

“He’s just a special kid,” Leeds football coach Jerry Hood said of Nelson last week. “He started as a sophomore at wide receiver and was the best wide receiver on the team and we had some quarterback packages for him that year. He was the quarterback for the past two years, but we needed him to play defense last year. He punted for us, he was a punt returner at times and all that kind of stuff.

“He’s just a selfless individual that will do whatever it takes for the team to win and that’s what made him so special.”

Nelson helped lead Leeds to an appearance in the Class 5A state semifinals this season and was a finalist for Class 5A Back of the Year; he was also offensive MVP on the Birmingham News All-Region football team.

The Southeastern Louisiana football signee ran the ball 219 times for 1,818 yards and 35 touchdowns while throwing for 1,124 yards and 11 touchdowns.

The quarterback picked the Lions of the FCS Southland Conference over other football offers from Samford, Murray State, UT Martin and West Alabama. He also held a baseball offer from Lawson State.

On the baseball field, he helped key Leeds to an appearance in the third round of the Class 5A baseball playoffs and was a first team all-state pick at outfielder. He was also a member of the Birmingham News Terrific 22 Baseball Team.

He batted .427 with 45 RBIs, eight home runs and a 1.322 OPS at the plate while logging 49 1/3 innings of work on the mound. He finished with a 3.26 ERA and an 8-3 record while striking out 88 batters.

“Conner is a tremendous athlete, competitor and person,” Leeds baseball coach and assistant football coach Jake Wingo said. “He has always been a great teammate and a joy to coach. He’s one of those rare athletes that don’t come around very often and we appreciate what he did for Leeds and excited to see what he does in the future.”