By Randy Reinhardt
Reprinted with permission from The Pantagraph
Boomer Grigsby did not expect a lifetime achievement award.
He did not get one Thursday when Cal Poly linebacker Jordan Beck was announced as the Buck Buchanan Award winner at a ceremony in Chattanooga, Tenn.
"No, I don't think so," Grigsby said when asked if he was disappointed in finishing third in balloting for Division I-AA's top defensive player. "I think I have nothing to prove. A lot of the country thinks I'm the best player in I-AA but some maybe not. You pick the battles you can win."
Grigsby, the ISU and Gateway Conference career tackles leader, placed in the top three of the Buchanan voting for an unprecedented third time. He was third as a sophomore and second as a junior.
"I'm the only kid on it for three years. That's enough for me. I got my own record," Grigsby said. "Some people have told me 'they owe it to you for your career.' But that's not really the description of the award. It's for that season. If I was going to get it, it should have been for one of the other two years."
Beck had 135 tackles, 18 1/2 tackles for loss, 5 1/2 sacks, four interceptions and six forced fumbles as Cal Poly finished 9-2. Beck received 35 first-place votes and 257 points. Cal Poly end Chris Gocong was second with 14 first-place votes and 183 points.
Grigsby garnered 15 first-place votes and 152 points. He was in the top five on 44 ballots, while Beck rated top five recognition from 64 voters and Gocong 52.
Grigsby had 129 tackles in 10 games his senior year while battling various injuries over the final half of the season. He missed the final game of ISU's season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.
Western Kentucky linebacker Charles Thompson finished ninth.
Grigsby, the three-time Gateway Defensive Player of the Year, isn't going to be tormented by never winning the Buchanan.
"It's a little bit of politics. I'm sure no one in the West or East voted for Boomer," he said. "When it comes down to it, I played hard, played well and tried to win games."
Willam & Mary quarterback Lang Campbell captured the Walter Payton Award for the top player in I-AA. He had 40 first-place votes and 315 points to the 17 votes for first and 185 points of second-place finisher Dustin Long, a Sam Houston State quarterback.
Appalachian State wide receiver DaVon Fowlkes was third and Southern Illinois quarterback Joel Sambursky eighth.
Jerry Kill of Gateway champion Southern Illinois was presented the Eddie Robinson Award as I-AA's coach of the year. Kill received 244 points. Harvard's Tim Murphy was second with 206 points, while Ron Randleman of Sam Houston State was third.
