Armed Forces Merit Award

FORT WORTH, Teas – Kansas State has been named the sixth recipient of the Armed Forces Merit Award, presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).The partnership of the Kansas State football team with the Iron Rangers has created a bond between the university and the United States Army post at Fort Riley. Coordinated by the staff at the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, the Armed Forces Merit Award presented by the FWAA was created in June 2012 “to honor an individual and/or a group with a military background and/or involvement that has an impact within the realm of college football.”

Brant Ringler, the Executive Director of the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, and David Jones, the FWAA’s president, announced here Thursday selection of the Kansas State football team as the 2017 recipient during an 11 a.m. (CT) teleconference. Ringler will also be present Saturday at the Wildcat’s game versus West Virginia in Manhattan to officially present the Armed Forces Merit Award presented by the FWAA.

A seven-person committee made up of FWAA members and Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl officials selected Kansas State from a list of 38 nominations for the 2017 award. U. S. Marine veteran Steven Rhodes, a defensive end at Middle Tennessee State University, was honored last November as the fifth recipient of Armed Forces Merit Award presented by the FWAA.

Nate Boyer of the University of Texas was named the initial recipient of the award in 2012 followed by Brandon McCoy of the University of North Texas in 2013, Daniel Rodriguez from Clemson University in 2014 and Bret Robertson of Westminster College (Fulton, Mo.) in 2015. All four individuals were U. S. Army veterans before playing college football.

“We are pleased to join with the Football Writers Association of America to honor the Kansas State football program as the sixth recipient of the Armed Forces Merit Award,” said Ringler. “We had a list of 38 outstanding nominations for this year’s award and it is difficult to honor only one each year when we have individuals and programs that are very deserving of the honor.”

Jones echoed Ringler’s sentiments along with adding that the FWAA is “pleased to team with Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl to recognize Kansas State’s involvement with the Iron Rangers at Fort Riley. The FWAA also salutes the other 2017 nominations for their contributions on-and-off the field of play.”

A nominee for the Armed Forces Merit Award since 2013, the Kansas State football team has been a finalist for the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl and FWAA recognition the past two years. The Kansas State relationship with Fort Riley started in 2006 when Lt. Col. Patrick Frank approached former Wildcat coach Ron Prince about partnering his soldiers with the Kansas State student-athletes. The partnership has continued with legendary Wildcat coach Bill Snyder.

“We are so very honored to receive the 2017 Armed Forces Merit Award presented by the FWAA in recognition of our passionate, long and on-going relationship with For. Riley and the Big Red 1,” said Snyder. “We have such great respect for our armed services and the amazing sacrifices they make for all of us and are so fortunate to live in this country. The interaction Sean, I and our players have with the men of Fort Riley has left a lasting impact on our lives.”

Kansas State Athletics Director Gene Taylor added that “the partnerships that each of our athletic teams have with Fort Riley, including our football team, are a special and unique component of the experience that we provide all of our student-athletes at our school. Both groups have an immense respect for what each does, and it is a tremendous honor for our student-athletes to build relationships and greater understanding of the work and lifestyles of our service men and women, all whom have sacrificed so much for our country.”

In addition to hosting joint workouts, Snyder and his son, associate head coach Sean Snyder, have attended deployment and return ceremonies for the troops at Fort Riley, and they post newsletters from the regiment in the locker room. For each home game, Wildcat team captains carry the Iron Rangers and Big Red Ones Flags out onto the field as two members of the Iron Rangers bring the flags each week and watch the game from the sideline.

“Our guys – and I didn’t realize this at first – they carried names and faces of those guys around. When the Fort Riley troops were over in Afghanistan, the players were looking at the newsletters, and they were concerned about the soldiers’ well-being,” Sean Snyder said.

While many college football teams have a military appreciation day with an appearance by the color guard and a section of soldiers in the stands, K-State takes the tribute game to a higher level. At Kansas State’s annual “Fort Riley Day” game, more than 1,000 soldiers and family members have been treated to a pregame tailgate party with free food and beer and donated tickets.

The school’s football team also has attended physical training and spent a day in the life of a soldier. The Wildcats have recorded numerous videos and written cards to be shared with the unit through their deployments. The Fort Riley troops in return spend personal time with K-State coaching and support staffs.

The partnership between Fort Riley and the football team also has impacted other sports on the Manhattan campus. Each of the university’s sports have paired with a designated unit on campus to begin their own partnerships and support systems.

In an extensive 2013 article in the Kansas City Star Magazine, titled “K-State athletes and Fort Riley soldiers join forces,” Cindy Hoedel wrote that “the football partnership helped start a bigger relationship between the university and Fort Riley in 2008. What separates the K-State/Fort Riley partnership from military outreach programs at other universities is support from the top leaders of each institution.”

Hoedel’s article mentioned a visit to troops in Iraq in 2010 by Kansas State President Kirk Schulz and three faculty members. The group flew by Black Hawk helicopters and traveled by mine-resistant vehicles as they lived in troop housing for five days to see what the soldiers were experiencing.

“I don’t know how many university presidents have flown to Iraq,” said former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers, a Kansas State alum, current university president and a retired four-star general in the Air Force. “That speaks volumes.”

The Star Magazine article noted that other universities and colleges near military bases, Louisville, Texas-San Antonio, Syracuse and San Diego State, have approached Kansas State to learn how its military partnership works. Interest is also on the military side.

ESPN Events

ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a large portfolio of 31 collegiate sporting events worldwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games; FCS opening-weekend game; 14 college bowl games, 11 college basketball events and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 300-plus hours of programming, reaches almost 64 million viewers and attracts over 700,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in Albuquerque, Birmingham, Boca Raton, Boise, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Montgomery and St. Petersburg, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.

ESPN Events also manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.

Collegiate Football

AdvoCare Texas Kickoff (Houston); Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl (Florida); Bahamas Bowl (Nassau); Birmingham Bowl (Alabama); Boca Raton Bowl (Florida); Camping World Kickoff (Orlando, Fla.); Celebration Bowl (Atlanta); Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise); Frisco Bowl (Frisco, Texas); Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff (Montgomery, Ala.); Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); Las Vegas Bowl (Nevada); Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth); MEAC/SWAC Challenge (Baton Rouge, La.); Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.); Texas Bowl (Houston); The Home Depot College Football Awards (Atlanta) and Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth)

Collegiate Basketball

AdvoCare Invitational (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Armed Forces Classic (Ramstein Air Base, Germany); College Basketball Awards Presented by Wendy’s (Los Angeles); Gildan Charleston Classic (South Carolina); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Jimmy V Men’s Classic presented by Corona (New York City); Jimmy V Women’s Classic presented by Corona (Hartford, Conn.); NIT Season Tip-Off (Brooklyn, N.Y.); PK80 presented by State Farm (Portland, Ore.); Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); State Farm Champions Classic (Chicago) and Wooden Legacy (Fullerton, Calif.)

For more information, visit the official website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.

Media Contacts

Tim Simmons, Armed Forces Merit Award Coordinator at 720/244-650 or bfishinc@aol.com

Steve Richardson, Football Writers Association of America at 214/870-6516 or tiger@fwaa.com

Bryan Delgado, Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl at 817/810-0266 or bryan.delgado@espn.com

Kenny Lannou, Senior Associate A.D. for Communications and Public Relations, K-State Athletics, 785/532-7977 (office), 785/587-7867 (mobile), klannou@kstatesports.com

Anna Negron, ESPN Media, 860-766-2233, anna.m.negron@espn.com

Steven Rhodes claimed the Armed Forces Merit Award in 2016. The FWAA helps name the winner of the Merit Award along with the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.

From Middle Tennessee Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee defensive end Steven Rhodes’ incredible four-year journey will come full circle in the next week.

Armed Forces Merit Award winner Steven Rhodes, a former Marine and defensive end at Middle Tennessee State, is flanked by
Dr. Sidney A. McPhee, president of Middle Tennessee State (left) and Athletic Director Chris Massaro at the FWAA’s Awards Breakfast on Jan. 9, 2017, in Tampa.
Photo by Melissa Macatee.

The senior Marine veteran and Antioch, Tenn., native will accomplish what he calls “two of the biggest goals in my life” all in the span of eight days. He will graduate from college on Saturday with a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication and then attend rookie minicamp with his hometown Tennessee Titans from May 12-14.

“Finally my dream is starting to take place,” Rhodes said. “It’s something not everyone can say they’ve done, to graduate college and get a chance in the NFL. Especially not having any student loans, that’s even better.

“There’s nothing like playing the sport you love and playing for your hometown. I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I’m excited to be a Titan.”

It’s often said that students mold the person they will become during their four years at college, and especially during their freshman year. But, for Rhodes, that was a little different.
He wasn’t an 18-year-old kid moving away from home for the first time in his life when he stepped onto MT’s campus in 2013. He was a 25-year-old man who had spent the previous five years fighting for his country as a Marine.

“I think the biggest thing I learned [at college] was I can be pushed to new limits and pushed a lot further than I thought I could go,” Rhodes said. “It’s been a lot being a husband, a father, a full-time college student and a football player. It’s like having 10 jobs and it was very difficult, but it definitely helped mold me, and coming through those tough times made me a better man and a stronger man.”

Rhodes became a beloved member of the Murfreesboro community, being awarded the Daily News Journal Person of the Year award in 2013 during his freshman season for the Blue Raiders. He also became a consistent player on the field and got better each season.

He had never played defensive end before coming to MT, but improved with every game and every practice and capped his four years with a career season in 2016. He set personal highs in tackles (41), tackles for loss (8), quarterback hurries (7) and sacks (4.5), leading the team in the latter three statistics.
How Rhodes was able to focus on his craft as much as he was able to over his four years wasn’t just a credit to his own work ethic. It was a family affair.

He and his wife, Adrienne, have two children: Kameron, 5, and Devon, 4. It was their support and flexibility that helped their dad reach his ultimate dreams.

“My family is my support system, my backbone through all of this,” Rhodes said. “My wife was the one who encouraged me to keep going and never give up, and my two boys, my parents, my brother — they all kept me going and kept me motivated and helped make this possible.”

As he prepares this week to showcase his talents in front of the Titans, Rhodes will take some time to reflect back on the special four years he’s had. But, sticking true to what he learned as a Marine, he knows there’s plenty of work to do in order to prove himself, and he’s too disciplined to take a break.

The Armed Forces Merit Award recipient also knows there are a lot of people from another family, his fellow veterans, who are inspired by his story, and he won’t let them down.

“It’s possible to achieve your dreams after active duty, and I’m glad I can show that,” Rhodes said. “It’s been an emotional rollercoaster … but everything worked out how it was supposed to.

“I’m just really excited and ready to get back to work and back to football.”