|
[His previous all-America honors this
year were from
The Sports Network and the American
Football Coaches Association.]
The AP team, which was released
Wednesday to print media outlets, also recognized the Redbirds' Ray
Robinson as a second-team selection on the defensive line. In
addition to Grigsby, Gateway Football Conference players Buster
Ashley, an offensive lineman from Western Kentucky, and Alexis
Moreland, a defensive back from Southern Illinois, received
first-team honors from the Associated Press.
With his two latest honors,
Grigsby becomes the most decorated Redbird football player in the
history of the program. In the last two seasons, Grigsby has been
named to six first-team all-America teams, topping former punter
Mike McCabe's five first-team honors.
Grigsby was one of two Gateway
players to receive first-team honors from
CollegeSportsReport.com,
a full-service intercollegiate athletics Internet news source
managed by Brad Dopke. Offensive lineman Ben Deike from Northern
Iowa was the other.
[to top of second column in this
article]
 |
A two-time Gateway Football
Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Grigsby led the league in
tackles with 179, which also ranked No. 2 nationally in I-AA
football. He also ranked No. 2 nationally in solo tackles,
accumulating 109 in 2003. He tallied 110 tackles against Gateway
opponents, with double-digit tackles in each game.
Grigsby's 179 tackles also set
the standard for Redbird juniors, giving him the freshman, sophomore
and junior single-season tackle records at Illinois State. He has
451 tackles through three seasons and became only the fourth Redbird
in the history of the program to amass 400 tackles in a career. The
Canton native is also 129 tackles away from passing current
assistant coach Galen Scott's school-record career tackle mark of
579.
The
Illinois State football program has produced at least one
all-American player in 18 of its last 22 seasons. Over the last six
seasons, the Redbirds have had 21 players from 10 positions honored.
[Todd Kober, director of
athletics media relations,
Illinois State University] |
