Former Clemson Lineman Richard Yeargin the Sixth Nominee for the Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award
MIAMI LAKES, Fla. – Boston College’s Richard Yeargin is this week’s nominee for the 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. Yeargin, a sixth-year senior, recorded a tackle for loss during his first start for the Eagles on Saturday, which came just more than two years after he suffered a serious neck injury in a car accident.
"I just had to wrap my head around feeling disabled," Yeargin told ESPN.com this month. "I couldn't move my neck around, I couldn't drive. Sometimes I couldn't get out of bed. So reading and writing, just spending time with my family, that helped."
In June of 2017, Yeargin, then a Clemson defensive lineman, was involved in a car accident on the way from Greenville, S.C., to his home in Clemson. He had fractured the C5 through C7 vertebrae at the base of his neck, and he broke a few other bones and suffered a concussion.
He graduated in December of 2017, enrolled in a master’s program and was set to return to action for the Tigers in 2018, but he did not feel like himself, so he became a student-coach for the program’s national title run.
He got engaged, he had a son, he landed a job offer in Milwaukee and, during a routine check-up this past April, he was surprisingly cleared to return to the field.
Yeargin, a 6-foot-4, 280-pounder from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (University School), entered the transfer portal and landed at Boston College. He has played in all seven games for the 4-3 Eagles, tallying four tackles for loss.
The Courage Award was first presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) in 2002. A select group of writers from the FWAA vote on the winner each year. The requirements for nomination include displaying courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship. The winner of the award will be included in festivities during Capital One Orange Bowl week and receive his trophy at an on-field presentation.
