Dec. 9, 2005
Duquesne University's Ryan Esdale (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) earned a spot on the University Division 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Football Team released on December 1. Esdale, a junior secondary education major with a 3.73 GPA , is the fourth player in Duquesne history to be named Academic All-America.
The first team All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League (MAAC) defensive end, who was named to the Academic All-America second team, finished the season eighth on the 7-3 MAAC Champion Dukes in tackles with 39 (20 solo), despite missing two early-season games with a shoulder injury. The New Jersey native ranked tied for fourth on the team with 4.0 sacks and sixth in tackles for loss with 8.5 (for minus 41 yards).
A two-year starter, Esdale also broke up three passes, forced two fumbles and recovered one for a Duquesne defense ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division I-AA in total defense, rushing defense and passing defense.
Esdale joins Mike Hilliard (second team in 2002 & first team in 2003), Joe Pavlick (second team in 2002) and Bob Nithman (second team in 1995) on the Duquesne football all-time Academic All-America list. DU has produced at least one CoSIDA Academic District 2 team member in 11 of the last 13 years.
The Academic All-America Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America; a 2,000-member organization consisted of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Division I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.
