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McDonald Named to the NFF's 50th National Scholar-Athlete Class
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Dec. 9, 2008
 Illinois senior center Ryan McDonald accepts his award as a Draddy Finalist from former Connecticut football coach and athletic director/former NCAA President John Toner at the NFF annual awards dinner in New York. |
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University of Illinois senior center Ryan McDonald was in New York City Tuesday evening to be honored by the National Football Foundation at its annual awards dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue. More than 1,600 were in attendance at the dinner, which included a number of lumniaries from the college football world. McDonald, who recently completed his Fighting Illini football career with a school record-tying 48 starts, is a two-time Academic All-American having already earned his bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering last May, graduating with a 3.84 GPA and receiving high honors. He was in New York Tuesday night as one of 15 players from across the nation to have been selected to the National Scholar-Athlete Class as a finalist for the Draddy Trophy. McDonald was one of the anchors of the Illinois offense, which led the Big Ten in rushing in 2007 and finished atop the conference in passing in 2008.
McDonald is the second University of Illinois player to be selected as a Draddy finalist in as many years; last year, linebacker J Leman earned the distinction.
