Sadler named Academic All-American

Punter Mike Sadler was among seven Big Ten players named Academic All-American on Thursday. Sadler has a perfect 4.0 GPA in applied engineering science.

Also announced Thursday, Jerel Worthy was named a Walter Camp All-American.

The Big Ten does pride itself on academics, which is partly why the conference won't take just any school when it comes to expansion (Also why Notre Dame is a perfect fit, but I digress).


Here is the release from the Big Ten on the Academic All-America members:


Park Ridge, Ill. - The Big Ten led all conferences with seven student-athletes named to the Capital One Academic All-America first or second teams in football as announced today by CoSIDA. The Big Ten has now led all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences in Academic All-Americans for seven straight seasons, with 55 honorees over that time span.

The Big Ten's total of seven Academic All-Americans topped all conferences, as no other conference produced more than four honorees. The Big Ten also led all conferences with four first-team selections, followed by the Missouri Valley with three first-team honorees and the Big Sky, Mid-American and Southeastern conferences with two first-teamers each. Nebraska was one of only three schools with two first-team Academic All-Americans.

The Academic All-America first-team honorees from the Big Ten are the Nebraska duo of Rex Burkhead and Austin Cassidy, Northwestern's Patrick Wardand Purdue's Joe Holland. Cassidy was one of four players to earn first-team accolades for the second straight year while Holland was a second-team Academic All-American last season. The Big Ten's second-team All-Americans are Michigan State's Mike Sadler, Nebraska's Sean Fisher and Northwestern'sJacob Schmidt.

To be eligible for the award, a player must be in at least his second year of athletic eligibility, be a first-team or key performer and carry a cumulative 3.30 grade point average (GPA).