Senior offensive tackle Rodney Reed continued to add to his off-the-field accolades on Wednesday as he was selected as a National Scholar-Athlete by the National Football Foundation.
Only 15 college football players a year receive this honor. Recipients receive an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship.
“Since 1959, these highly sought after awards have recognized only a chosen few who have excelled above all in the areas of scholarship, citizenship and athletic performance,” said National Football Foundation Chairman Jon F. Hanson.
Last year, LSU linebacker Bradie James also received this award.
“This is a tremendous honor and something that I am extremely proud of,” Reed said. “It is quite an accomplishment that two student-athletes from the same school have won the award two years in a row. It’s good to get recognized and it speaks well for the program. I think this also speaks highly for the academic center and the way coach Saban stresses academics and not just football.”
Players eligible for this award must be first team players who are seniors or graduate students holding at least a 3.0 grade point average and have demonstrated leadership on and off the field.
Reed graduated in May with a 3.94 GPA in accounting and currently is enrolled in graduate school at LSU pursuing a Master’s degree in accounting. He was named to the Academic All-America team twice, has been a member of the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll three times and is on the 2003 SEC Good Works team for football.
Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning and Auburn linebacker Dontarrious Thomas were the only other SEC players named as National Scholar-Athletes.
The 15 honorees will be recognized at the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame’s 46th Annual Awards Dinner Dec. 9 in New York City.
Reed adds to academic honors
October 30, 2003