Former Clemson DE named ACC's Piccolo Award winner |
| - Monday, December 2, 2019, 9:25 AM |
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Boston College graduate defensive end and former Clemson defender
Richard Yeargin has been named the recipient of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 2019 Brian Piccolo Award, as announced by the league on Monday.
The Piccolo Award has been given annually since 1970 in memory of the late Brian Piccolo to the "most courageous" football player in the ACC. As a standout running back at Wake Forest, Piccolo was the ACC Athlete of the Year in 1965 and played for the Chicago Bears before his career was cut short when he was diagnosed with cancer. His courageous fight against the disease was an inspiration to the Bears and the entire football community. Yeargin will be recognized this weekend during activities surrounding the 2019 ACC Football Championship Game between Clemson and Virginia, which is set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. In June of 2017, Yeargin, who began his college career at Clemson and had just completed his second season, was involved in a car accident near Greenville, South Carolina. His injuries included fractures of the C5 through C7 vertebrae at the base of his neck and a concussion. Yeargin graduated in December of 2017, enrolled in a master’s program and was set to return to action for the Tigers in 2018, but symptoms related to the accident persisted and he decided to retire from football. Yeargin underwent surgery and became a student coach for the Tigers’ national championship run, but he continued to rehab under the watch of the Clemson strength and conditioning staff. He got engaged, became a father and landed a job offer as he neared completion of work on his master’s degree. Then, during a routine check-up last April, he was surprisingly cleared to return to the playing field. Yeargin, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, entered the transfer portal and landed at Boston College. Yeargin not only found his way back to the playing field this fall, he appeared in every game as a regular in the Eagles’ defensive line rotation while making six starts. Nominated for the 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award after making his first start for Boston College and recording a tackle for loss in a win over NC State on October 19, Yeargin finished the regular season with 12 total tackles, including six for lost yardage, and a quarterback hurry. “This is a tremendous honor for Richard to be named the Piccolo Award recipient as the ACC’s most courageous player,” said Steve Addazio, who coached Yeargin at BC this past season. “He has been a tremendous addition to our football team both on and off the field, and has shown tremendous courage and passion in returning to the field. We could not be happier for him.” Yeargin becomes the second student-athlete from Boston College to earn the ACC’s Brian Piccolo Award and the first since linebacker Mark Herzlich in 2010. It's more than just the No. 2 on his @BCFootball jersey. This is Richard Yeargin III's 2nd chance. pic.twitter.com/UjxYJbSwXB ACC Brian Piccolo Award Winners 1970 Paul Miller, QB, North Carolina 1971 Jim Webster, LB, North Carolina 1972 Mark Johnson, QB, Duke 1973 Al Neville, QB, Maryland 1974 David Visaggio, DG, Maryland 1975 Scott Gardner, QB, Virginia 1976 Jeff Green, DE, Duke 1977 Ralph Stringer, DB, NC State 1978 Rex Varn, DB, Clemson 1979 not available 1980 Jack Cain, DB,Clemson 1981 Aaron Stewart, DB, Duke 1982 Kenny Duckett, WR, Wake Forest 1983 John Piedmonte, OLB,Wake Forest 1984 J.D. Maarleveld, T, Maryland 1985 Danny Burmeister, DB, N. Carolina 1986 Ray Williams, WR, Clemson 1987 no recipient 1988 Jerry Mays, TB, Georgia Tech 1989 Michael Anderson, RB, Maryland 1990 Marc Mays, WR, Duke 1991 Scott Adell, T, NC State 1992 Dan Footman, DE, Florida State Randy Cuthbert, TB, Duke 1993 Scott Youmans, DL, Duke 1994 Chris Harrison, T, Virginia 1995 Warren Forney, DT, Clemson 1996 John Lewis, RB, Wake Forest 1997 Sam Cowart, LB, Florida State 1998 Anthony Poindexter, DB, Virginia Corey Simon, DT, Florida State 1999 Chris Weinke, QB, Florida State 2000 Ed Wilder, FB, Georgia Tech 2001 Matt Crawford, T, Maryland 2002 Anquan Boldin, WR, Florida State 2003 Kevin Bailey, OL, Virginia 2004 Frank Gore, RB, Miami 2005 Ryan Best, S, Virginia 2006 Glenn Sharpe, Miami 2007 Matt Robinson, DE, Wake Forest 2008 Robert Quinn, DE, North Carolina 2009 Toney Baker, RB, NC State 2010 Mark Herzlich, LB, Boston College Nate Irving, LB, NC State 2011 Giovani Bernard, RB, North Carolina 2012 Shayon Green, DE, Miami Chris Thompson, RB, Florida State 2013 Robert Godhigh, RB, Georgia Tech 2014 Duke Johnson, RB, Miami 2015 Hunter Knighton, OL, Miami 2016 James Conner, RB, Pitt 2017 Trevon Young, DE, Louisville 2018 Greg Dortch, WR/KR, Wake Forest 2019 Richard Yeargin, DE, Boston College
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