OVC FOOTBALL:Posted: Monday, February 16, 2015 12:44 pm
Special to the Register
The first year could have been dismissed as a fluke, little more than good fortune for a freshman with no scouting reports for opponents to study.
Devin Borders blocked five kicks in his first season with Eastern Kentucky, the school that uncovered the under-recruited gem from Choctaw High School in Florida. He got his hands on more kicks in his first season than 102 entire teams in the FCS did.
And then he did it again.
Borders, a sophomore, swatted five more kicks this past season to lead the FCS for the second consecutive year, tied with P.J. Hall of Sam Houston State and J. Moreland of James Madison.
His penchant for blocking kicks earned him the 2015 All Sports Association Male Collegiate Award.
“It was a pretty big surprise,” Borders said. “I didn’t even have that on my mind and to be recognized by that is pretty huge for me. “Having been to a couple of the all-sports banquets and stuff like that, it’s pretty big.”
This is just the latest accolade for Borders. He earned the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2013, the same year he was named the team’s offensive MVP after leading the Colonels in receptions (34), receiving yards (509) and touchdown catches (six).
“It’s definitely huge,” Borders said, “this being the collegiate athlete of the year for the All Sports Association.
“I mean, the collegiate athlete, that means baseball, basketball, all the other sports it could have been. That’s huge, that’s huge for me.” Borders honored, former Colonels Jones named to Ky. Pro Football Hall of Fame
The career record for blocked kicks is held by McNeese State’s Leonard Smith, who finished his tenure as a Cowboy with 17 of them. Former Colonel Aaron Jones Headed to the Ky. Pro Football Hall of Fame Former Eastern Kentucky University football player Aaron Jones is one of four people to be inducted into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame on Friday, June 26. The Class of 2015 will be inducted at Louisville’s Brown Theatre.
Jones, a 1987 Division I-AA first team All-American defensive lineman, earned All-Ohio Valley Conference honors in 1985 and 1987. Following the 1987 season, Jones was chosen as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. The Apopka, Florida native made 40 tackles, 26 assists, and 12 tackles for loss during his senior season.
Following his senior season at EKU, Jones was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first round pick in the 1988 NFL Draft. Jones played nine years in the NFL, also playing for the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins. At the time of his selection, Jones was only the third OVC student-athlete to be picked in the NFL Draft’s first round (EKU Athletics Hall of Famer Wally Chambers and Morehead State’s Phil Simms).
During his professional career, Jones played in 113 contests. He made 20 sacks, including a career-high four with New England in 1994, recovered five fumbles and had one interception.
Jones was inducted into the EKU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007. He will be the sixth Colonel inducted into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining Wally Chambers (2006), Jason Dunn (2006), John Jackson (2009), Yeremiah Bell (2010) and Chad Bratzke (2013).
The three other members of the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2015 are Doug Buffone, Gil Mains and Jacob Tamme.
The purpose of the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame is to appropriately honor persons that have brought significant recognition to the state of Kentucky, or have by their unusual successful service achieved significant accomplishment on behalf of their school, or have by a significant act or contribution distinguished themselves as an unusual former National Football League player, coach, referee, owner, management, etc. or have been a significant or unusual supporter of Pro Football. Kentucky is the only state to have its own Pro Football Hall of Fame.