Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Mike McElroy granted medical hardship waiver
01/18/2011 | 12:00:00 | Football
Jan. 18, 2011
By Jason Clay
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois senior safety Mike McElroy has been granted a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA for an injury that cost him nearly all of the 2010 season, the school announced Tuesday.
McElroy sustained an ankle injury in the second game of the season at Illinois on Sept. 11. The injury required surgery and caused him to miss the remainder of the season.
"I'm just excited about it," McElroy said of being granted one more season. "I don't feel that I have anything to prove, but I want to be able to go out on top."
The 6-1, 210-pound strong safety entered 2010 as a preseason All-American and a candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award. The Sports Network rated him as one of the Top 10 defensive backs in the nation after he tied for fourth nationally with seven interceptions in 2009.
"With all the preseason accolades coming into last year, I was really hoping for a great season," McElroy said. "I felt that I got off to a good start, so I want to get back to that level that I was playing at."
He had nine tackles in six and a half quarters of play last season. McElroy intercepted a pass in the second quarter at Illinois, but went down early in the third quarter of that game with the injury.
McElroy said that being on the sidelines last year changed the way he views the game.
"Last season gave me a new prospective on how to play the game and how to be a leader," he said. "I was able to see the game from a different point of view on the sidelines and it was like being a coach. Now I feel that I will be a better leader and be able to relate to what the coaches are trying to get us to do."
McElroy played right away as a true freshman at SIU in 2007, appearing in all 14 games and he made two starts. He has 39 career starts to his name and 174 career tackles, 14.5 tackles for a loss and his 11 interceptions have him tied for the sixth most in school history.
The Lowell, Mich.-native was a 2009 First Team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection and a second team ESPN Academic All-American.
McElroy, a health education major and two-time recipient of the MVFC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award, was also a nominee for the 2010 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. 
