Joe Sloan Nominated For Rudy Award
December 04, 2009 | Football
Dec. 4, 2009
LAS VEGAS, NV - East Carolina senior Joe Sloan is one of 49 Division I student-athletes to be nominated for the Third-Annual College Football Rudy Award, the Rudy Foundation announced Friday afternoon.
The award honors student-athletes who demonstrate exemplary CHARACTER, COURAGE, CONTRIBUTION and COMMITMENT as members of their collegiate football teams. These same traits were immortalized in the blockbuster film "RUDY" in 27 seconds and against all odds on a gridiron in South Bend, Indiana, enabling Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger to carve his name into college football lore.
Sloan, it was stated in the school's nomination materials, is a true student of the game and hopes to leave his legacy through coaching. He studies the game -- devours it, really by attending film sessions with the coaching staff to get a jump on his career. Every week, Sloan watches film with offensive staff assistant Dwayne Ledford, acting as both shadow and sponge as the two break down opposing defenses. Sloan is the only player who participates in such sessions. Sloan's value to the Pirates over the past three seasons as a holder and emergency reserve quarterback is easy to underestimate. A fifth-year senior from Chester, Va., Sloan has caught, planted and spun for somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 successful PATs and 40 successful field goal tries, including five game-winners.
Along the way, the easygoing Sloan earned the trust and respect of his teammates and coaches while enduring a heartbreaking family loss that nearly ended his career two years early. Shortly after spring practice for the 2006 season, Sloan's father, Bill, was diagnosed with lung cancer. He fought for two years, succumbing to the disease in June 2008 at the age of 57. Throughout his father's illness and beyond, Sloan returned home to Virginia to help run the family's residential development business, all the while torn between that obligation and his role on the football team. Twice -- before both last season and this season -- Sloan considered giving up football, but he returned both times to fill a role low in profile but held in high regard by his teammates. He's one of these guys that has been through a lot, but always bounces back. He doesn't let his size or his athletic ability or anything else get in his way.
Three RUDY AWARDSTM finalists will be chosen by the Selection Committee, as well as through fan voting, and honored at a breakfast to be held in conjunction with the American Football Coaches Convention on January 11, 2010, at the Orlando World Center Marriott, in Orlando, FL. Rudy Ruettiger will personally present the awards.
Each finalist will be presented with a classic finalist award and have an academic scholarship made in his name to the general scholarship fund of his college or university, as well as have travel expenses paid to the event. An overall winner will be chosen and presented with the top scholarship and bronze RUDY AWARD trophy.
"We established this award as a special way to honor and recognize college football players for the size of their hearts instead of the enormity of their stats," said Ruettiger. "Our first two years in Anaheim and Nashville were tremendous successes and we are excited to continue to build the RUDY AWARDS into one of the top collegiate honors. The fact that we again had more than 40% of the Division I football programs submitting nominations, with every conference represented, speaks volumes about the importance of CHARACTER, COURAGE, CONTRIBUTION and COMMITMENT in sports and in our society."
Terry Clayton, then a senior linebacker at the University of Kentucky, who, despite losing his hearing at the age of five, persevered as a walk-on for the Kentucky football team for five seasons and twice was named to the Southeast Conference Academic Honor Roll was the recipient of the 2007 INAUGURAL COLLEGE FOOTBALL RUDY AWARD.
Drew Combs, then a senior kickoff specialist for Texas Christian University, who, despite being born with a left arm that ends at his elbow, made the TCU football team as a walk on and became a key weapon on special teams, was the recipient of the 2008 COLLEGE FOOTBALL RUDY AWARD.
The 2009 Award Selection Committee includes football coaches Barry Alvarez, David Bailiff, Gary Barnett, Fisher DeBerry, Dennis Franchione, June Jones, Chuck Knox, Gary Patterson, Buddy Pough, Jackie Sherrill and Dick Tomey, as well as former Washington Redskins Quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams and NFL Hall of Fame member Eric Dickerson. Prominent businessman Peter Murphy, Jr., again will serve as Chairman. Fan votes for the RUDY AWARDS also will contribute to the Selection Process.
A full list of nominees is available at www.RudyAwards.com. Finalists will be announced on December 16. If a finalist presently is receiving a full scholarship, or graduates prior to the award presentation, the award will be made in the player's name to the general scholarship fund of the college or university.
