Illinois States Boomer Grigsby has made a career out of leaving his mark and he did it again Tuesday when he became the first player in Gateway Football Conference history to be named the leagues defensive player of the year for a third time. Joining Grigsby on the first team was offensive lineman Stafford Davis.
Senior defensive lineman Josh Chrestman and junior punter Ryan Hoffman each received second team honors, while seniors Yance Vaughan, Mike Larson and Jeremy Melville were all honorable mention selections.
Grigsby, from Canton, Ill., achieved the Gateway, NCAA and Illinois State career tackle records and set the Gateway standard for tackles in a career with his 566th career tally against No. 1 Southern Illinois on Nov. 6. He then set the Redbird standard against UNI on Nov. 13 with his 580th career tackle. He led the Gateway in tackles all season with 129 tallies in 2004, including a season-high of 21 tackles against Indiana State. His 12.9 tackles per game ranked second nationally.
Davis started all 11 games for the Redbirds this season and has started all 34 games in his career. The native of Orange Park, Fla., led the team with 140 knockdowns, while only having three missed assignments all season. In two games, Davis recorded 20-plus knockdowns.
