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Mike Montgomery Named Aggie Heart Award Winner at 2005 Texas A&M Football Banquet

April 09, 2005Mike Montgomery, a senior defensive lineman from Center High School, was named the Aggie Heart Award winner, the highest honor for a Texas A&M senior football player. The award was prese

April 09, 2005

Mike Montgomery, a senior defensive lineman from Center High School, was named the Aggie Heart Award winner, the highest honor for a Texas A&M senior football player. The award was presented by Gov. Rick Perry at the annual Texas A&M football banquet held Saturday evening in The Zone Club at Kyle Field to honor the 2004 Aggie football team.

The 2004 edition of Aggie football saw the Aggies ranked among the nation's Top 25 for most of the year and the Aggies were back bowling with a New Year's Day appearance in the SBC Cotton Bowl. Head football coach Dennis Franchione was named the 2004 Dallas Morning News' Coach of the Year as the Aggies faced the nation's toughest schedule.

The Heart Award is presented to a senior who has completed his eligibility and displays the intangibles such as effort, desire, determination, competitiveness, leadership and courage. All the awards, including the Heart Award, are voted upon by the players of the football team.

"Mike Montgomery is a great example of the type of young man you want in your football program," Coach Fran said. "He has a huge heart and he is very deserving of this honor. He was a team leader and his teammates could count on him 100 percent of the time."

Montgomery was also presented the defensive line MVP as well as the overall defensive MVP. He was limited his junior year (2003) due to a heart procedure, but bounced back to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors as a senior. His 77 tackles led the defensive line and was second on the entire squad. He even picked off one pass and returned the ball 14 yards against Iowa State.

The offensive MVP was none other than quarterback Reggie McNeal, a junior from Lufkin High School, who also earned first-team All-Big 12 honors by the Dallas Morning News. McNeal was the only Division I quarterback to rush for at least 59 yards a game and throw for at least 230 yards per game. He was a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award and he set school records for passing yards (2,791), rushing yards by a quarterback (718) and total offense (3,509).

The offensive line MVP was senior Geoff Hangartner from New Braunfels High School. Hangartner was an All-Conference center as a junior and made the switch to tackle and earned first-team All-Big 12 honors at that position. His tremendous athletic ability was highlighted in the win against Oklahoma State as he flattened an OSU cornerback on several flanker screen passes.

The special teams MVP was another senior, Byron Jones from Bay City High School. Jones excelled on special teams and was the first one down on punt coverage most every time. Jones was also a starting cornerback and registered 69 tackles on the year and recorded 4.5 quarterback sacks and picked off one pass while breaking up eight others.

The offensive scout team MVP was Jordan Chambless, a redshirt freshman from Corpus Christi Calallen High School. Chambless, a two-sport athlete who went through spring football drills and served as the baseball team's ace reliever, worked at any position he was requested in the fall. On several occasions he served as the quarterback for the opposing team to give the Aggie defense a good look in preparations. Chambless is currently working as a backup safety.

The defensive scout team MVP was William Morrisey from Silsbee High School. Morrisey, a redshirt freshman, worked against the Aggie offensive front line and helped them improve and displayed the ability that has him in the defensive line rotation. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of last year's winner, Red Bryant, who broke into the starting lineup this past fall and earned Freshman All-American honors.


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