October 19, 2006
Senior wide receiver Chad Schroeder has been named a semifinalist for the 2006 Draddy Trophy the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame announced Wednesday. The Draddy Trophy is awarded each year to the college football player who shows the most combined academic success, football performance and exemplary community leadership.
To be nominated for the award, a semifinalist must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.0, have outstanding football ability and show great leadership and citizenship. The winner is awarded a 25-pound bronze trophy and a 25,000-dollar post-graduate scholarship.
Schroeder currently leads the Aggies in catches (24), receiving yards (399) and is tied for the team lead with three touchdown receptions. In 2005, Schroeder earned the nickname ?Mr. Touchdown? as he scored on his first five touches of the season. For his career, Schroeder has caught 56 balls for 1,010 yards and 11 touchdowns. To earn his title of a big play receiver, Schroeder has a career average of over 18 yards per catch and has scored a rushing touchdown on a wide receiver reverse. At the conclusion of spring practice, Schroeder was voted by his teammates to serve on head coach Dennis Franchione?™s Leadership Council.
Off the field, Schroeder has the same ?big play? ability. He not only serves as a leader of the Aggies?™ nationally ranked football team, but as a leader in the community as well. This summer Schroeder interned in the Texas A&M Athletic Department where he served as a chairman for several summer activities run by Aggie Athletes Involved. Aggie Athletes Involved is widely regarded as one of the leading community service organizations at Texas A&M University. Their annual activities include a coat drive, a toy drive, and most notably the ?Aggies Can? food drive which last year collected over 150,000 cans of food for local food banks.
The National Football Foundation scholar-athlete program became the first initiative in history to credit a player for both academic and athletic accomplishments when it began in 1959. Since the Draddy Trophy was added to the award in 1990, winners have included two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, a Heisman Trophy winner and an average GPA of 3.7.