Player Profiles - of College Football Games

160
2007 Laker Football Media Guide
Gene Upshaw Award
Mike McFadden Wins 2005 & 2006 Gene Upshaw Award
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Michael
McFadden, a senior defensive end
on Grand Valley State
University’s national championship
team, was selected as the
repeat winner of the Gene Upshaw
Division II Lineman of the Year
Award, sponsored by the
Manheim Touchdown Club.
The Upshaw Award winner is
selected by the sports information
directors of the 150 football-playing
NCAA Division II institutions
and is named in honor of the current
Executive Director of the
National Football League Players
Association.
Gene Upshaw was a standout
lineman at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M-Kingsville) before
achieving All-Pro status six times during his 16-year career with the NFL
Oakland Raiders. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987,
his first year of eligibility and has served as the NFLPA executive director
since 1983.
“I congratulate Mike McFadden on being named the winner of the
Division II Lineman of the Year Award for the second consecutive year,”
Mr. Upshaw said. “It comes as no surprise that Mike continues to receive
accolades for his play on the football field. He continues to dominate
against opposing quarterbacks as evidenced by his 23 sacks in the last 30
games.”
Don Harris, president of the Manheim Touchdown Club, which sponsors
the award, added:
“When you look at all Mike McFadden has accomplished on the football
field, it is only fitting that he should be the first two-time winner of
this award. After hosting Mike and his family at our 2005 banquet last year,
you could see that this young man processes a great deal of character to go
along with his athletic ability.”
McFadden was the overwhelming choice in this year’s balloting; he was
listed as one of the top three choices by 83 percent of the voters and was
the No. 1 choice of 46 percent of the voters.
Jason Capizzi, a senior offensive tackle for Indiana University of Pa., and
Robbie Klinetobe, a junior offensive guard for Chadron State University,
tied for second place in this year’s voting.
The other finalists for the award included Newberry College offensive
tackle Heath Benedict, North Carolina Central University center Robert
Duncan, California University of Pa. center Tim McCutcheon, University
of South Dakota center Chris Morton and Northwest Missouri State
University defensive end Ryan Waters.
“It is truly an honor to be named the Gene Upshaw Award winner for a
second time,” McFadden said. “I have so much respect for Mr. Upshaw
and what the Gene Upshaw Award stands for and I am humbled with this
honor when so many deserving candidates were nominated.”
Grand Valley State head coach Chuck Martin added, “Mike McFadden is
everything the Gene Upshaw Awards stands for. Mike is an amazing football
player, but more than that, Mike is even a better person, and we are
excited to see Mike get his just due for his accomplishments both on and
off the football field.”
McFadden, a 6-foot-1, 255-pound native of Saginaw, Mich. (Heritage
High School), received Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year
AwardSponsored by the Manheim Touchdown ClubMike McFadden double-team
attention from opposing teams but still recorded 61 tackles this
fall, including 29 solo takedowns, 13.5 tackles for loss (-54 yards) and
seven quarterback sacks (-41 yards).
He also received the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
(GLIAC) Defensive Lineman of the Year honor for the second straight
year, as well as a second successive first-team All-GLIAC citation.
McFadden recorded at least one tackle for loss in 30 of the last 39 games
and at least one QB sack in 23 of the last 30 games. He is the NCAA D-
II all-time record holder for career QB sacks with 34.5 and ranks fourth
all-time in career tackles for loss with 55.5. Earlier this season,
McFadden tied the NCAA all-division record for consecutive games
with a QB sacks with 17.
What does not show up in McFadden’s statistics is the fact that,
because of the attention paid to him by rivals, all three of his defensive
line mates were able to record career highs in every category this fall.“I
was fortunate to have the opportunity to play with so many quality football
players at Grand Valley State and this is just as much of a team
award as an idividual award. I was just 1/11th of our defense and that is
how we approached every down defensively at Grand Valley State.”
As a unit, Grand Valley’s defensive unit led the nation in QB sacks per
game (3.75) and ranked 13th in scoring defense (14.1) and 38th in rushing
defense (105.1).
In addition to receiving the Upshaw Award in 2005, McFadden was
named as a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, American
Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Don Hansen’s Football Gazette,
D2Football.com and Daktronics, Inc. and was named as the Football
Gazette’s Defensive Lineman of the Year.
McFadden earned honorable mention All-GLIAC honors as a sophomore
and was a Freshman All-American in 2003. McFadden is also
actively involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
McFadden was a dominent figure en route to earning the award as a
junior. He concluded his junior campaign as the national co-leader in
quarterback sacks with 19 and was third in the nation in tackles for loss
with 21.5 (-110 yards). He recorded at least one quarterback sack and
tackle for loss in each of Grand Valley State’s 13 games last fall, a run
that resulted in the Lakers winning their third national title in the last four
seasons.
Despite playing the entire game with a hip flexor injury, McFadden
recorded one QB sack (-7 yards) in Grand Valley State’s national championship-game
win over Northwest Missouri State. He recorded five
tackles, four tackles for loss (-13 yards) and three QB sacks (-12 yards)
in less than two quarters of action in the Lakers’ national semifinal win
over East Stroudsburg (Pa.). McFadden, the only junior among the eight
national finalists for this year’s Upshaw Award, is currently tied for the
GVSU career record for QB sacks with 29. His 2005 total of 19 set a
school single-season record. He was the Lakers’ No. 2 tackler with 83.