Brentwood Academy offensive lineman Graham Shuler, who is slated to sign a college scholarship with Stanford next month, was presented with the 2012 Doc Blanchard Award during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl awards dinner Friday night in San Antonio.
The honor is given to a member of the East team who epitomizes the Army’s “high standard of excellence in community service, education and athletic distinction”. The West team honoree is presented the Glenn Davis Award.
“The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is not only a celebration of football, but also a celebration of the strength of the American Soldier,” said John Myers, Director of Strategic Communications, Marketing and Outreach, U.S. Army Accessions Command. “The players selected as winners for the Felix “Doc” Blanchard and Glenn Davis Awards have demonstrated similar strengths to Army Strong Soldiers, not only on the field, but in the classroom, and in their communities.”
Shuler, an honor roll student at Brentwood Academy, recently conducted a school-wide fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project. He also serves as a youth coach and volunteers with Daystar Ministries and Pathways Organizations, which works for the detection of physical movement differences for children and helps provide therapy for those that need it
As a senior, he’s been a member of The Tennessean’s Dandy Dozen top preseason college prospects, and was a finalist for Mr. Football Lineman of the Year in Division II-AA as well as an all-state and a Tennessean Dream Team performer.
Kyle Murphy, an offensive lineman from San Clemente, Calif., was named the Glenn Davis Award winner.
Glenn Davis and Felix “Doc” Blanchard were arguably college football’s greatest running back duo while on the Army teams of the 1940s. Davis holds the all-time collegiate record for rushing average per carry in a single season (11.5 in 1945). Blanchard was a three-time All-American and played fullback, linebacker, kicker and punter. Known as “Mr. Inside” (Blanchard) and “Mr. Outside” (Davis), both men won the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award and together led Army to three National Championships in the 1940s. The duo combined for a record 97 collegiate touchdowns, a mark not broken until the 2000s by U.S. Army All-Americans Reggie Bush and LenDale White of USC.
The U.S. Army All-American Bowl game is set for 12 noon Saturday and will be televised on NBC (WSMV-Channel 4 locally).