Alyssa GregorySenior middle linebacker Brandon Roberts has received yet another accolade to go along with captain, team leader and All-American.
Last Monday, Roberts was selected as a National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete for 2002. This is the most prestigious academic award given in football to a college senior student-athlete. The award will provide Roberts with a postgraduate scholarship in the amount of $18,000.
“They don’t really put a number on how many kids get the award,” said head coach Larry Kindbom. “It’s based on athletic ability and academics. They are looking for great players and great students, too.”
Roberts, a biomedical engineer, is the first Washington University student-athlete to receive this distinction since 1996, when another engineer and fellow linebacker, Brad Klein, was honored.
In the past, the award has gone to such college football greats as Peyton Manning, Brian Griese and the Rams’ own Grant Wistrom.
“It’s easy to say, ‘Well, Brandon’s not in Division I,’ but I think that at our level, he has impacted the game every bit as much as Peyton did at Division I,” Kindbom said. “That’s why it’s neat company. It’s impressive to see the other people there.”
Roberts will be honored at The Foundation’s 45th Annual Awards Dinner on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2002, at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City.