Nov. 26, 2008
TOWSON, Md.- All-America candidate Joe Pawelek was named second-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Wednesday. Pawelek is the ninth student-athlete in Baylor football history to earn Academic All-America honors.
A product of Smithson Valley [Texas] High School, Pawelek is Baylor's first Academic All-American since Daniel Sepulveda, who was a first-team selection in 2005 and 2006. Other Baylor honorees were first-team selections Ronnie Bull (1961), Don Trull (1962, 1963), Chris Quinn (1976), Mike Welch (1989, 1990) and Ty Atteberry (1996), and second-team selections Matt Clark (1986, 1987) and J.J. Joe (1991, 1992, 1993).
Pawelek, a junior finance major, leads the Big 12 Conference and is tied for third nationally with 11.0 tackles per game. He leads the league and is tied for second nationally with six interceptions, most nationally this season by a linebacker. Pawelek has established a Baylor single-season record for interceptions by a linebacker and is tied for eighth on the program's season list regardless of position with the most picks by a Baylor player since 1991. He has 121 tackles this season, most by a Baylor linebacker since 1994.
A student-athlete must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing and participate in at least 60 percent of his team's games in order to be eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-District honors. The Academic All-America teams are chosen from the student-athletes who earn first-team Academic All-District honors.
Pawelek was one of seven Big 12 student-athletes to earn football Academic All-America honors. Sam Bradford (quarterback; Oklahoma), Jeron Mastrud (tight end; Kansas State), DeMarco Murray (running back; Oklahoma), Chris Ogbonnaya (running back; Texas), Todd Peterson (wide receiver; Nebraska) and Tyler Wortman (linebacker; Nebraska) also were second-team selections.
Baylor returns to action Saturday, Nov. 29, concluding its 2008 season at seventh-ranked Texas Tech. Kickoff between the Bears and Red Raiders is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CST at Jones AT&T Stadium on the Texas Tech campus. The game will be televised nationally on Versus.
