Pick of the Crop
Jeremy Kellem gains recognition for his performance both on and off the field.
O
n Saturday, April 30, from a microphone on the stage of the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Jeremy Kellem (’11) hopes to hear his name called. But if the 30 teams in the National Football League choose not to draft Kellem, the star MTSU defensive back shouldn’t be too concerned about finding employment. He’ll have his high grade point average to fall back on.
Kellem, who recently graduated cum laude with a degree in organizational communication (and achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA in his final semester), is the
first MTSU football player since 1991 to be
named to the ESPN Academic All-America Football Second Team. Kellem is just
the fourth Academic AllAmerican in school history, and the first to be both an Academic All-American and a first team All-Conference performer. According to Kellem, academics have always come before sports in his family. “Plus, I like to shock people,” he says. “They get in the classroom with me and they are like, ‘Oh, he can actually talk, or, ‘Oh, he’s not dumb’—I just like to change people’s perception of athletes.”
by Drew Ruble
Kellem is a four-year starter on the team, and his good grades are in large part responsible for that. MTSU head football coach Rick Stockstill is a stickler for good grades, and has, in fact, led MTSU to the highest APR rate in the Sun Belt conference. (The APR—different from graduation rate— provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. Factors include eligibility, retention, and graduation, thus providing a picture of the academic culture of each sport.) Entering the 2010 season, 75 of the 78 student-athletes who have played under Stockstill earned degrees. “Football comes last to Coach Stock,” Kellem says. “He really focuses on making you a better student and a better man. If you aren’t doing well as a man and as a student, he isn’t going to let you on the field.” Stockstill describes Kellem as a “highly motivated, goal-oriented young man” who is involved in a lot of community outreach activities like
“I just like to change people’s perception of athletes.”
| 10 | MTSU Magazine
Photos: Jacob M. Langston and Jack Ross