Brett Dillard accepts Scholar-Athlete Award at annual NFF Awards Banquet in Nashville
Tennessee Tech offensive lineman Brett Dillard was back at the National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner Monday to accept a prestigious college honor four years after he was first invited to receive a similar honor as a high school Scholar-Athlete.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Four years ago, a younger Brett Dillard attended the National Football Foundation Middle Tennessee Chapter Awards Banquet in Nashville to accept an honor for his success as a high school football player who also excelled in the classroom.
He was the winner of the award for Mt. Juliet High School in April 2012, and received the Charles W. Hawkins III High School Scholar-Athlete recognition for the Golden Bears.
Flash forward four years to Monday night. The tuxedo-clad Dillard was back at the NFF Banquet at the Music City Sheraton Hotel, this time to walk across the stage and accept another honor as an outstanding student-athlete.
Dillard closed his four-year Tennessee Tech football career in the 2015 season, seeing action in 36 career games along the way and overcoming knee injuries to be a regular contributor in the offensive line. Monday night he was presented as Tennessee Tech’s University Scholar-Athlete by the NFF.
Joined by his parents, James and Amanda Dillard, along with TTU administration and several Golden Eagle football coaches, Dillard was one of seven recipients of the college-level award. A crowd of more the 600 was on hand for the event.
"Brett Dillard is the epitome of a student-athlete," said former Golden Eagle assistant coach Dewayne Alexander, who coached Dillard and is a member of the NFF Board of Directors. "On the field, he is a student of the game; coachable, and a reliable teammate who made everyone around him better. On campus and in the community, he is a servant leader who makes his life about others. He is an exampe of what all student-athletes should strive to be."
In addition to his time on the football field, Dillard has constructed a 3.75 GPA while majoring in biology wth a concentration in health science, and is on schedule to graduate in May. Among his community activities, Dillard took a mission trip to Honduras and Haiti, and serves is church, as well as a campus ministry.
Tennessee Tech's list of winners of the National Football Foundation University Scholar-Athlete Award:
2016 Brett Silas Dillard
2015 Cody James Matthews
2014 James McKenzie Normand
2013 Taylor Jake Hennigan
2012 Corey Shea Watson
2011 Kelechi Ordu
2010 Taylor Jarvis Askew
2009 Bradley Adam Thompson
2008 John Milton Jackson, III
2007 Anthony Quinn Ash, Jr.
2006 David McMahan
2005 Robert Craft
2004 Daniel Wentzel
2003 Trey Baxter Perry
2002 Grant Hayden Swallows
2001 James Andrew Dorsey
2000 (no record available)
1999 T. J. Christian
1998 Jeffrey Norman
1997 Robert L. Taylor, Jr.
1996 Adam Jeremy Wright
1995 Scott E. Trent
1994 Marc Evans
1993 Jason Scott Hiett
1992 Ted Guider Lockerby
1991 Spencer Hissam
1990 Ryan Weeks
