Jill Lee

Foltz Receives Historic First Honorary Senior CLASS Award Nomination

by Jill Lee October 31, 2016 in Football

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The email tugged at all of our heartstrings.

It came to the inbox of Senior CLASS Award Director Erik Miner in early September from Nebraska Assistant A.D. Keith Mann, who said he had a unique question about the SCA nomination process.

Earlier in the summer, Nebraska had endured one of the most tragic scenarios imaginable earlier in the summer when Sam Foltz, their first-string punter, had been killed in an automobile accident on his way back from a kicking camp in Wisconsin. As an all-around excellent student, athlete and young man entering his senior year, Foltz had been a model citizen on campus and in the Lincoln community, and the Nebraska athletic department already had been planning to nominate him for the SCA when the season began.

It had been a truly sad headline over the summer when news broke that Foltz and former Michigan State punter Mike Sadler, who also had been in the car, had lost their lives so early in life. And we all remembered hearing the news. So, when Erik shared Keith’s email with us, we all were moved by Nebraska’s desire to honor the young punter.

Really, it wasn’t a difficult decision. Foltz certainly fit the description of a Senior CLASS Award nominee. A standout on the field as well as in the classroom and community, he was a five-time member of the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll, a member of both the Brook Berringer and Tom Osborne Citizenship teams, and, earlier this year, had been awarded a Nebraska Student-Athlete HERO Leadership Award, which recognizes exceptional leadership, consistent and dedicated community service and positive influence on the team.

After a few discussions, the decision was made to make Sam Foltz the first-ever Senior CLASS Award Honorary Nominee. He was listed among the 30 candidates so voters could read his bio and learn about him throughout the nomination process on seniorclassaward.com.

Really, it’s the least we could do. And while it’s not much in the grand scheme of things, we hope the honorary nomination honors Foltz’s memory and blesses the family and friends, coaches and teammates who miss him every day.