Florida Gators junior safety Matt Elam, voted the team’s most valuable defender at its annual award banquet on Saturday, was named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press on Tuesday.
Elam, a unanimous First Team All-SEC selection earlier this month, is the first member of Florida’s secondary to receive the honor since 2009 (Joe Haden) and the first Gators player to be named to the first team since 2010 (Chas Henry).
Florida junior defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, redshirt senior kicker Caleb Sturgis and sophomore punter Kyle Christy earned Third Team All-American honors on Tuesday. Like Elam, all three were also unanimous First Team All-SEC selections.
Photo Credit: USA Today
One more year!
+1
And our awesome kickers get jobbed again…
There are not 4 better DTs in the country than Sharrif Floyd.
Might be true but there are likely 4 DTs who have much better stats. Though we know Floyd was a force this year his stats don’t really reflect it. They are good but not monstrous.
Matt Elam is a beast – ball skills, recognition, run defense, speed – just great. I dare say the most talented SS we’ve had. If he stays he’ll have a monster year but I think he’ll become a real leader on D for the team that takes him at the next level. Best to him, he deserves it.
Totally agree on Elam. I remember the issues surrounding his commitment – flipping to FSU before that used car salesman Urban gave him the “trust me” heart to heart talk and (thankfully for us) he signed with UF. He’s been an outstanding Gator from day one. Glad he goes out on a high note after two rough seasons.
Great Gator Players . . .