Football Awards Presented
January 29, 2000 | Football
Jan. 29, 2000
LUBBOCK, Texas - Sammy Morris and Rob Peters went home with the most hardware as the 1999 Texas Tech football team was honored during halftime ceremonies at the Texas Tech-Oklahoma basketball game Saturday.
Morris and Peters captured three awards each, while a total of seven 1999 Red Raiders were singled out for both their playing and academic performances. The entire team was recognized to begin halftime ceremonies.
With the 1999 coaching staff dispersed following the retirement of former head coach Spike Dykes, the annual football banquet could not be arranged so the 1999 awards were presented Saturday.
Morris, a senior fullback who led Tech in all purpose yardage with 948, took home a team captain's award, the Donny Anderson Award for Sportsmanship and the Pete Cawthon Memorial Award that goes to the team's most valuable player. Members of the team vote on all three of those awards.
Peters, the senior quarterback of the 1999 Red Raider squad, garnered two awards voted on by the team, as well as the academic award for highest grade point average for a Texas Tech player competing while in graduate school. Peters maintained a 3.9 GPA while working toward a Master's of Science in Accounting.
Teammates also voted to make Peters a permanent captain, as well as awarding him the Dell Morgan Memorial Award, which goes to the player who best exemplifies courage in both practice and game situations.
"We are proud of these seven young men, as well as the entire 1999 Red Raider football team," athletic director Gerald Myers said. "These student-athletes represent the best in collegiate athletics today, not only as players, but also as quality people."
Outside linebacker Keith Cockrum and inside linebacker Tim Duffie captured the remaining academic awards for the 1999 season, while tailback Ricky Williams, linebacker Kyle Shipley and defensive end Taurus Rucker were voted as the remaining three permanent team captains. Former player Stoney Garland, who was left paralyzed by an automobile accident in 1997, was also honored as an honorary team captain.
Cockrum, an Academic All-American, won the award for the highest grade point average among senior players. He is scheduled to graduate in May with a perfect 4.0 GPA while pursuing a triple major in Economics, Finance and Management Information Systems.
Duffie won the Clint Ramsey Academic Achievement Award, which goes to the player who has given special effort in pursuit of his degree at Texas Tech. Duffie completed 56 hours in one academic year to earn his degree in Exercise Sports Sciences in August 1999. He started at linebacker as a graduate student last season.