Special to The Flash
TarletonSports.com
(November 30, 2016) – The banner year for Cody Burtscher continued Wednesday afternoon as the recently named Lone Star Conference Linebacker of the Year earned All-America acclaim for his work in the classroom.
“I can’t be more proud of Cody,” said head coach Todd Whitten. “He’s been a tremendous leader for us on and off the field. He’s such a hard-working and intelligent young man. This is a tremendous honor for him and I’m glad to see him recognized for the hard work he puts into his studies, to go along with the hard work he put in on the field for us last year.”
Burtscher just completed his final season of competition at Tarleton and enjoyed a career year as the starting middle linebacker in the Texan defense.
A native of Glen Rose, he was recently named first-team All-Lone Star Conference, academic All-LSC, and the Lone Star Conference Linebacker of the Year. Earlier this year, he was also named a national semifinalist for the National Football Foundation’s William V. Campbell trophy.
Burtscher finished the season as the Lone Star Conference leader in tackles with 117 while tacking on 6.0 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, and three interceptions. He was also named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week after lifting the Texans to a 35-5 win over Angelo State in September. He boasts a 3.93 grade point average as a bio-medical science major.
He came to Tarleton in 2013 after a standout career at Glen Rose High School where he starred on both sides of the football – earning All-State honors as a running back and safety. Upon arrival in Stephenville, Burtscher spent his first two seasons on the offensive side before transitioning to linebacker prior to the 2015 season. Over his two years on defense, Burtscher has amassed 218 tackles, including 15.0 for a loss and 4.5 sacks.
He is the fifth Texan in school history to earn Academic All-America honors and the second in Tarleton’s NCAA era, joining his former teammate Charles Moore who was a CoSIDA All-America honoree in 2014. Burtscher joins Moore, Mike Loveless (1990), Ricky Bush (1981), and Tommy Konz (1972) to earn Academic All-America recognition.
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