| Miami Lakes, Fla. (www.orangebowl.org) – Boston College’s Richard Yeargin is this week’s nominee for the 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. Yeargin, a sixth-year senior, recorded a tackle for loss during his first start for the Eagles on Saturday, which came just more than two years after he suffered a serious neck injury in a car accident. “I just had to wrap my head around feeling disabled,” Yeargin told ESPN.com this month. “I couldn’t move my neck around, I couldn’t drive. Sometimes I couldn’t get out of bed. So reading and writing, just spending time with my family, that helped.” In June of 2017, Yeargin, then a Clemson defensive lineman, was involved in a car accident on the way from Greenville, S.C., to his home in Clemson. He had fractured the C5 through C7 vertebrae at the base of his neck, and he broke a few other bones and suffered a concussion. He graduated in December of 2017, enrolled in a master’s program and was set to return to action for the Tigers in 2018, but he did not feel like himself, so he became a student-coach for the program’s national title run. He got engaged, he had a son, he landed a job offer in Milwaukee and, during a routine check-up this past April, he was surprisingly given the clear to return to the field. Yeargin, a 6-foot-4, 280-pounder from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (University School), entered the transfer portal and landed at Boston College. He has played in all seven games for the 4-3 Eagles, tallying four tackles for loss. The Courage Award was first presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) in 2002. A select group of writers from the FWAA vote on the winner each year. The requirements for nomination include displaying courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship. The winner of the award will be included in festivities during Capital One Orange Bowl week and receive his trophy at an on-field presentation. |
| Previous winners of the Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award: |
| 2018 – Kyle Richard – SUNY Cortland 2017 – D’Cota Dixon – Wisconsin 2016 – James Connor – Pittsburgh 2015 – Hunter Knighton – Miami 2014 – Laken Tomlinson – Duke 2013 – Anthony Larceval – San Jose State 2012 – Daniel Rodriguez – Clemson 2011 – Arthur Ray – Michigan State 2010 – Eric LeGrand – Rutgers | 2009 – University of Connecticut Football 2008 – Wilson Holloway – Tulsa 2007 – Zerbin Singleton – Navy 2006 – Ray Ray McElrathbey – Clemson 2005 – Tulane Football Team 2004 – Haracia Colen – Memphis 2003 – Neil Parry – San Jose State 2002 – William Bratton – Toledo |
| 2019 Courage Award Nominees: Week 1 – Blake Anderson Week 2 – Ashtyn Davis Week 3 – Casey O’Brien Week 4 – Jake Luton Week 5 – Josh Paschal http://bit.ly/2019Courage6 |
| About the Orange BowlThe Orange Bowl is a 360-member, primarily volunteer non-profit sports organization that promotes and serves the South Florida community. With its primary mission since being created in 1935 to bring tourism to South Florida through an annual football game and events, it has also maintained a legacy of charitable contributions and community outreach. Orange Bowl community outreach efforts are comprised of four pillars: youth sports, fundraising and community events, academic programs and scholarships, and legacy gifts. The Orange Bowl features a year-round schedule of events culminating with the Capital One Orange Bowl on December 30, 2019. For more information on the 2019-2020 Orange Bowl events, including promotional and volunteer opportunities through the Ambassador Program presented by Panera Bread, log on to www.orangebowl.org or follow the @OrangeBowl on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat. |
