University of Utah offensive tackle Zane Beadles has been selected as a first-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), the organization announced today in a one-hour show on ABC-TV. The FWAA All-America team is the second-longest continuously published team in major college football.
Beadles is the 14th first-team All-American in Utah history and the fourth offensive lineman, joining Carlton Walker (1984), and current NFL players Jordan Gross (2002) and Chris Kemoeatu(2004).
He joins a star-studded 2009 FWAA All-America lineup that includes four Heisman Trophy finalists. It is the second All-America honor this week for Beadles, who was named to the second-team by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
It is the third-straight year that a Utah player has been named to the FWAA All-America team.Louie Sakoda was selected as the FWAA’s All-America punter in 2007 and the placekicker in 2008.
A three-time all-Mountain West Conference selection (first team in 2008 and 2009), Beadles is a four-year starter for the Utes. This season, he has won 675 of his 770 total plays for a team-best 88% overall grade. He has 24 cuts and 13 pancake blocks.
Beadles, who is majoring in mechanical engineering, holds a 3.535 grade point average and was named as a second-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American. Scheduled to graduate in December, he is a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award and the Wuerffel Trophy. He regularly participates in community service events and is a member of Utah’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Beadles also writes a weekly blog for the Sporting News, in which he shares his experiences as a Division I football player.