Sprint Football
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point Athletics Association’s Academic Support team has selected its scholar-athlete for the 2021-22 academic year, awarding sprint football’s David Dickerson.
Dickerson, who graduated this May, was a four-year member and starting linebacker on the Army West Point sprint football team. He finished his time at the Academy with a 4.049 academic GPA as an engineering management major.
In recognition of his dedication and commitment to excellence, both on and off the field, Dickerson was elected by his teammates as a defensive captain for the 2021 season, which saw the program advance to the Collegiate Sprint Football League’s championship game. As an example of his leadership qualities, he and his fellow co-captains developed themes each week that the team rallied around. For the week’s Navy game (Oct. 2), the theme was “together”. Dickerson addressed the team at the weekly team meeting and spoke about the brotherhood that exists among his teammates. He emphasized the importance of sticking together through the adversity the team would face at some point during the game. His words were spoken like a true leader, and everyone in the room respected what he had to say.
Dickerson was instrumental in helping the team win the league championship in 2019. In 2020, the team played only one game, which was against Navy. He led the team in tackles and recorded two key tackles-for-loss while holding the Mids to only 3 points. He also intercepted the pass that led to the team’s only offensive score. His effort greatly contributed to the 7-3 victory that day. This past year, Dickerson picked up where he left off by earning defensive player of the game in the season-opener versus the University of Pennsylvania, which was one of the top teams in the league. At the end of the season, he was awarded with First Team All-Defensive honors by the conference.
Dickerson consistently demonstrated excellence across all three pillars at the United States Military Academy. In addition to his 4.049 academic GPA, he maintained a 3.944 in the physical pillar and a 3.742 military cumulative score. He received numerous accolades in recognition of his achievements as an extremely well-rounded leader. He made the Dean’s List every semester and earned the Distinguished Cadet Award every year that he has been eligible (2019, 2020, 2021). He was also honored with the Superintendent’s Award for Excellence (Wreath and Star) for 2020 and 2021.
“David is hands-down one of the best football players I have ever coached,” Head Coach Mark West said. “His ability to defend against the run game, yet also defend in space versus the passing game is second-to-none. He was an All-League Honorable Mention performer in 2019 and I was thrilled when he earned First Team All-League honors this year as a senior. More importantly, David was a team captain and an outstanding leader. He has extremely high expectations for himself, and he also holds others accountable. He is vocal when he needs to be but prefers to let his actions do his talking. He led the defense with confidence and compassion, always setting the example in all he does. My vision for the team is to be the model athletic program for the Academy. David is the model cadet-athlete. Overall, David is one of the most well-rounded cadet-athletes in the Corps and is very deserving of this award.”
Source: Army West Point
