The Nebraska football team had three players named Thursday to the Capital One Academic All-District 7 football team, as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Each of the three honorees advance to the national ballot, where they will be eligible for the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America Team.
The three honorees are led by senior offensive guard Spencer Long who was named to the academic all-district 7 team for the third consecutive year. Long carries a 3.79 grade-point average in biological sciences. He is on track to earn his degree in December. Long was recently chosen as one of 16 college players who earned a National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Award, which includes an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. A two-time Academic All-Big Ten pick, Long started 33 consecutive games at offensive guard before injuring his knee earlier this season at Purdue.
Long is joined on the team by his twin brother, Jake, a senior tight end for the Huskers. This marks the second straight year Jake Long has earned academic all-district honors. Long carries a 3.86 cumulative grade-point average in biological sciences and is also on track to earn his degree next month. A two-time academic All-Big Ten pick, Long has been a regular at tight end for Nebraska for the past three seasons.
The Long brothers are joined on the academic all-district team by fullback C.J. Zimmerer. A graduate student, Zimmerer completed his undergraduate work in criminology and criminal justice in December of 2012, completing his degree in just 3 ½ years. Zimmerer had a 3.82 cumulative grade-point average as an undergraduate. On the field, the two-time academic All-Big Ten choice has been a fixture at fullback the past two seasons.
Nebraska’s three honorees were the most among schools in District 7. Each of the three honorees advance to the national academic All-America ballot. Nebraska leads the nation with 307 academic All-Americans across all sports, including 102 in football, the most of any individual team in the country.
The Nebraska Athletic Department will pay tribute to its academic All-America tradition next weekend. More than 100 of Nebraska’s academic All-Americans will return to Lincoln the weekend of Nov. 15-16. The group will be honored on the field at halftime of the Nebraska-Michigan State football game and will have a private reception, among other activities.