WASHINGTON – The Gallaudet University Bison football team continues to be recognized with postseason awards after its historic season as three players were named to the Beyond Sports College Network (BSN) D3 All-America team on Thursday. Senior offensive lineman Chris Langan (Burtonsville, Md.), sophomore fullback BJ Flores (Raymondville, Texas) and senior defensive end Adham Talaat (Springfield, Va.) were named to the first, second and honorable mention teams, respectively. This honor comes weeks after each player was named to the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) first team.
Langan anchored an offensive line that led Gallaudet to the top rushing offense (313 yards per game) and second scoring offense (25.9 points per game) in the ECFC. Gallaudet's offensive line ranked second in the ECFC and 46th in Division III for sacks allowed (12). Langan was a key in leading GU to a 9-2 season, an ECFC championship and the program's first national ranking in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coaches Poll. Behind the blocking of Langan, GU's offense lead Division III in time of possession (35:49 per game) and rushed for 3,167 yards, the highest amount since the program returned to Division III in 2007. This marks the first time Langan has been honored as an All-American.
Flores led the Gallaudet rushing attack with 1,227 yards on the season as he was GU's first 1,000 yard rusher since 1987. He led the ECFC in rushes (237), rushing yards (1,227) and ranked second in yards per game (111.5). The two-time All-ECFC first team fullback ranked fifth in yards per rush with an impressive 5.2 average and fifth in total yards per game with 113.4.
The awards keep rolling in for Talaat as he was recently named to the D3football.com 2013 All-East Region second team, the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team in addition to being a top 10 finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, given to the most outstanding football player in NCAA Division III and a finalist for the Cliff Harris Award, awarded to the top small college defensive player each year. Talaat is Gallaudet's first player ever to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team and the first Bison to receive Academic All-America honors two years in a row. The honor adds to a long list of awards Talaat has earned in the postseason.
Despite being double and triple-teamed most games, Talaat finished the season with 46 total tackles (26 solo), 9.5 tackles for a loss of 50 yards, five sacks for a loss of 42 yards, six quarterback hurries, three pass breakups, three passes defended and one forced fumble. He served as a defensive leader for the Bison as they went on to their first postseason appearance in school history.
Husson College defensive lineman Ernest Wiggins was the only other ECFC representative as he was put on the third team. Last season, cornerback Tony Tatum was the lone Bison to receive BSN D3 All-America honors as he was named to the first team.
Also see:
Disclaimer about Beyond Sports College Network
NCAA has confirmed that the BSN website issues do not constitute an extra benefit. It is permissible for college athletes to establish a "free profile" on this website and provide video and stats because anyone can do so; therefore, it is not an extra benefit as defined by the NCAA bylaws. Because the service is free and available to all college students as a way of networking and promoting themselves and is not benefiting solely student-athletes or solely All-Americans, there is no violation with NCAA rules.
