NORMAL, Ill. – The 2014 Illinois State football season will go down in the record books as the most successful in school history and provided Redbird fans countless amounts of excitement and lasting memories. Those same fans flocked to Redbird Arena on Tuesday night to thank the team and formally put a cap on the 2014 Redbird football season at the post season rally and awards ceremony.
The event featured remarks from Illinois State University President Dr. Larry Dietz and ISU Director of Athletics Larry Lyons, who each shared their thanks to the team and staff for their hard work and dedication throughout the championship season and to the fans for their support as well. State Representative Dan Brady was also in attendance and presented head coach Brock Spack with a resolution as a symbol of state's respect and esteem for the program's accomplishments in 2014.
Spack then thanked his team and coaches for their hard work, and echoed his thanks to all the families, friends, fans and alumni for their backing throughout the season and the playoff run. He then turned the microphone over to senior All-American long snapper Chris Highland, who spoke on behalf of the senior class and all of the student-athletes.
After all of the formal comments had been made, Spack returned to the podium to honor the recipients of the 2014 Redbird Football team awards. The winners were selected by the coaching staff and included:
- Scout Team Player of the Year (Offense) – Jake Kolbe
- Scout Team Player of the Year (Defense) – Arnell Anderson
- Scout Team Player of the Year (Special Teams) – Brannon Barry
- Fred Cleland Award – Bradon Prate
- Special Teams Player of the Year – Tevin Allen
- Carter Harris Awards
The evening concluded as student-athletes and coaches took pictures and signed autographs for those in attendance during a meet and greet session on the court.
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