University of Alabama linebacker Shane Lee and offensive guard Evan Neal on Monday were named to the 2019 Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)-Shaun Alexander Freshman All-America Team.
The team is named after former Crimson Tide star running back Shaun Alexander.
Today, Alexander travels the country speaking and teaching people about his Christian faith, marriage, fatherhood, football, winning, leading and love.
RELATED: Shaun Alexander on life, love and loss — ‘We will see her again, worshiping God together’
A 13-person panel of nationally-prominent college football experts represented each of the FBS conferences along with independents in the selecting the team, which annually honors the best redshirt and true freshmen college football players across America.
Panelists for the latest team and there corresponding affiliation were: Alexander; Mark Anderson, Las Vegas Review-Journal (MW); Mark Blaudschun, TMGCollegeSports.com (ACC); Scott Dochterman, The Athletic (Big Ten); Michael Griffith, Freshman Focus; Mike Griffith, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Chair/Independents); Tommy Hicks, Freelance (Sun Belt); Ron Higgins, Tiger Rag (SEC); Blair Kerkhoff, The Kansas City Star (Big 12); Matt Murschel, Orlando Sentinel (American Athletic); Nick Piotrowicz, Toledo Blade (MAC); Steve Richardson, FWAA; Grant Traylor, Huntington Herald-Dispatch (Conference USA); Ryan Young, Rivals.com (Pac-12).
The University of Alabama Athletics Department sent out a release highlighting key reasons why Lee and Neal were picked:
Neal
- Big-bodied offensive lineman that started all 13 games for the Crimson Tide at left guard
- Assisted on a line that gave up only 12 sacks in 406 pass attempts during the 2019 campaign
- Selected as a Freshman All-American by 247Sports and tabbed to ESPN.com’s Freshman All-American team
- Also earned Freshman All-America accolades from USA Today
- Named to the Freshman All-SEC squad by the league coaches
Lee
- Stepped into the starting middle linebacker spot and maintained that role all season
- Led all SEC freshmen with 86 tackles and tied for third in the league with 6.5 tackles for loss (-33 yards)
- Ranked second on the Tide defense in tackles and added 4.5 sacks (-29 yards) to tie for second across all SEC freshmen
- Added an interception and three quarterback hurries to go with two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in his first year with the Crimson Tide
- Selected to ESPN.com’s Freshman All-American team
- Named to the Freshman All-SEC team by the league coaches
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
