FOOTBALL
Three Georgia football players have been named to the Sporting News’ preseason All-America teams.
Junior flanker A.J. Green and junior punter Drew Butler were both named to the publication’s First Team while senior offensive tackle Clint Boling was named to the Third Team.
No other team from the Southeastern Conference has more than one player represented on the First Team. Alabama leads the way with six players on the three All-America teams and Georgia is second in the league with three.
Green, a Summerville, S.C., native, was a semifinalist for last year’s Biletnikoff after earning All-SEC First Team honors. In just 10 games in 2009, Green hauled in a team-leading 53 catches for 808 yards and six touchdowns. He ranked second in the league in both receptions per game (5.3) and receiving yards per game (80.8). Green also blocked a field goal against Arizona State last season to help clinch the Dawgs’ win.
Butler, an Alpharetta native, won the 2009 Ray Guy Award for being the nation’s top punter. The consensus First Team All-American posted a national-best 48.1 yards per punt average last season, becoming only the third Dawg in school history to lead the NCAA in punting. In just his first season as a starter, Butler had 24 punts of 50 yards or more, including a career-long 75 yarder versus #9 Oklahoma State.
Both Green and Butler were named to the Playboy and Lindy’s preseason All-America team earlier this preseason.
Boling, also an Alpharetta native, is two-time All-SEC performer at a variety of positions on the offensive line. He started all 13 games for the Dawgs in 2009, including the final six at left tackle. Boling led a Georgia offense that racked up 1,216 yards rushing and 11 rushing touchdowns during the final five games of the year last season.
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