(Portions of this story were taken from the DePauw
University website)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Of the over 19,000
student-athletes who play football in Division III, only four of
those student-athletes are in contention for the 2009 Gagliardi
Trophy. DePauw University quarterback Gerry (Spud) Dick is one
of those four special individuals, as the senior was named the
South Region Finalist today.
The Gagliardi Trophy, awarded annually to the outstanding football
player in NCAA Division III, is sponsored by Jostens and the J-Club
of Saint John's University, Minnesota. The award recognizes
excellence in athletics, academics and community service.
Dick, who was named one of 10 finalists two weeks ago, was the top
player selected from the South Region. He joins Union (N.Y.)
College senior quarterback John Peters, Augustana (Ill.) College
senior offensive tackle Blaine Westemeyer and Monmouth (Ill.)
junior quarterback Alex Tanney.
The National Winner will be announced on Tuesday, December 15
and the recipient will be presented with the trophy on Thursday
evening, December 17 at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va., as
part of the festivities leading up to the Division III National
Championship game played in Salem on Saturday, December 19.
The trophy is named for Saint John's University head football
coach John Gagliardi, the first active head coach to be inducted
into the College Football Hall of Fame (Class of 2006) and the
winningest coach in college football history with a record of
471-126-11 (.784). Gagliardi set the all-time win record on
November 8, 2003.
Additional information can be found at www.gojohnnies.com/gagliarditrophy.
Dick finished his career November 21 in the Tigers' NCAA
Championship first-round game at Thomas More and did so as the
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's all-time passing leader
with 9,312 career passing yards.
The Indianapolis native and Lawrence Central High School graduate shattered the DePauw record book. In 38 career starts, he set school career records for passing yards (9,312), completion percentage (65.5%), pass attempts (1,195), pass completions (783), touchdown passes (76), pass efficiency (145.11), total offense yards (9,293) and total plays (1,322).
In leading the 7-3 Tigers this season, he broke his own school record for completion percentage at 71.3 percent which also established an SCAC mark. His eight 300-yard passing games were also a school record. He earned All-SCAC First Team honors this year after garnering second team selections each of the last two seasons.
Through six semesters, Dick has posted a 3.59 cumulative grade point average while majoring in economics. A Management Fellow at DePauw, Dick has been named to the SCAC Academic Honor Roll three times and was an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection earlier this month.
Dick has also participated in the football team's community service projects which includes volunteering at the Indiana Women's Basketball Special Olympics State Championship which is hosted annually at DePauw. He has joined the team in visiting children hospitalized at Riley Hospital for Children and participated in a local reading program for K-2 grades.
He's also been active in the fall break service marathon with the local senior center which provides services for those in need in the community. Last summer, he volunteered at the U.S. Men's Senior Golf Open at Crooked Stick Golf Club.
The winner of the Gagliardi Trophy is selected by a 35-member
national selection committee comprised of coaches, sports writers,
community leaders and former Division III student-athletes
enshrined in the National Collegiate Football Hall of Fame. The
committee includes Professional Football Hall of Fame tight end
Dave Casper, College Football Hall of Fame and 1985 Heisman Trophy
finalist Joe Dudek, Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher,
Sports Illustrated writer Austin Murphy, and CBS News
anchor Harry Smith.
In the third year of online voting, fans were able to rank the 10
finalists and cast an electronic ballot that collectively was added
to the 35 votes of the national selection committee. In one of the
closest tallies in the 17 years of the Gagliardi Trophy: nine
of the 10 finalists received at least one first-place vote
with the 10th candidate receiving one second-place vote.
.jpg?max_width=280&max_height=139&crop=true)
.jpg?max_width=280&max_height=139&crop=true)
.jpg?max_width=280&max_height=139&crop=true)
