Southern Illinoise University Athletics
McElroy nominated for 2011 AFCA Good Works Team
07/19/2011 | 12:00:00 | Football
July 19, 2011
By Jason Clay
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - On the same day when the Southern Illinois University Athletic Department announced Mike McElroy's ambitious plan for the Salukis Black Out Cancer Game, the Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) announced that McElroy has been nominated for the 2011 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®.
McElroy was one of a record 132 nominees for the 2011 Allstate Good Works Team®, which recognizes the selfless contributions to volunteerism and community service made by college football student-athletes across the nation.
In order to meet the criteria set forth by Allstate and the AFCA, each player must be actively involved and committed to working with a charitable organization, service group or community service while maintaining good academic standing.
From the nominees submitted by sports information directors across the nation on behalf of their schools, a special voting panel consisting of former Good Works Team® members and prominent college football media members will select two 11-player Good Works Teams® - one comprising of players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and another representing players from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III, and the NAIA. The 22 student-athletes named to the 2011 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® will be announced in late September.
McElroy inspired to give back
Mike McElroy has done it all in his career at SIU. He's led the Salukis to a No. 1 national raking, a pair of Missouri Valley Football Conference Championships and has been a candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award, which goes out to the most outstanding defensive player in the FCS.
He's been an Academic All-American, a two-time All-MVFC honoree and was a preseason All-American in 2010.
However, after a severe ankle injury caused him to miss basically all of the 2010 season, McElroy has been given a different perspective and is looking to take advantage of the gift of a second senior season.
"I don't think I've ever been more excited for a year of football in my life," McElroy said. "Taking last year off was good for me because I was able to reflect and get priorities in order."
Not like his priorities have ever been out of order.
McElroy is the true definition of a student-athlete. He is stellar both in the classroom and on the field. But more importantly, McElroy is as good of a role model as you will find in college athletics.
Throughout his career he has volunteered his time to help out in the community. He participates with the Saluki Head Start program, helping kids that come from underprivileged families. He reads to children at local hospitals, leads a Vine Small Group at his local church in Carbondale and does speaking engagements for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Helping out in the community isn't a chore for McElroy, it's a passion.
"I think it's exciting," McElroy said when asked about the kind of enjoyment he gets from all his community service work. "We've been given such a great opportunity to play football here at this level. People come out to support us and this community is so supportive.
"I think we owe it to them since we've been put in a position where we've been given a lot of opportunities and a lot of freedom, so I just feel that it is always good to give back."
And so moving forward to this fall, McElroy has crafted one of the most unique ideas ever seen in college athletics on giving back. The Black Out Cancer Game that he has created has the makings to raise a lot of money to help cancer patients in the southern Illinois region cope with this deadly disease.
