Florida Dairy Farmers’ Mr. Football Announced
Palm Beach Dwyer’s senior defensive back Matt Elam was named the 2009 Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Football following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school volleyball coaches and media representatives.
Elam, who has signed with the Florida Gators, was an early enrollee at the university. He was honored during halftime of the Florida-South Carolina men’s basketball game on Saturday, January 23rd. Matt Lussier, local Hawthorne dairy farmer and president of Dairy Farmers, Inc., was in attendance and presented the Mr. Football trophy to Elam in front of thousands of screaming, Gator-nation fans. Elam joins Tim Tebow as the only other Gator to win the award (2005).
Elam is the 18th winner of the annual award sponsored by Dairy Farmers, Inc. and the Florida Athletic Coaches Association, who also honor the state’s top athletes and coaches in all 26 FHSSA-sanctioned sports. During the 2009 season, Elam rushed for 1,895 yards and scored 29 touchdowns while also having 92 tackles, six sacks and two interceptions, leading his team to a 14-1 record and the Class 4A state title.
To add to the excitement of the evening, Florida junior Chandler Parsons hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to win the game for Florida, 58-56.
The Gainesville Sun was on site to cover the Mr. Football presentation and ran the story in their paper and on their GatorSports.com website.
To see Matt Elam’s complete stats and previous winners, visit http://www.floridamilk.com/high-school-sports-awards/.
