Shead to play in Army AA Bowl
Cayuga's Shead accepts invite to play in All-American Bowl
Cayuga senior Traylon Shead will have his high school career extended into January.
Advertisement
On Tuesday morning, Shead accepted an invitation to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
"It is quite an honor for Traylon, the team and the school," Cayuga head football coach Tommy Allison said. "To have Traylon go represent Cayuga in San Antonio."
The All-American Bowl will be on January 9 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. The game will be at 1 p.m. and be televised live on NBC.
"This means a lot to me" Shead said. "It is because of my teammates that I get this opportunity."
The presentation was made Tuesday morning in the Cayuga High School gymnasium.
"This is one of our biggest announcements in the history of our high school," Cayuga Superintendent Dr. Rick Webb told the Cayuga student body at the beginning of the presentation. "This is a proud day for Cayuga High School."
U.S. Army Sergeant Trevor L. Collard made the official invitation to Shead, who accepted, becoming the final All-American selected to play in the game.
After Shead thanked his teammates and the school, Allison spoke.
"This is something the whole school can celebrate," Allison told the student body, "because without his teammates, Traylon would not be here today.
"It is an honor we all can celebrate and it is a great day for Traylon and for the school."
The All-American Bowl features the top players around the nation. Shead, who will play for the West team, has a resume to put him in that list of players. The Cayuga senior set the Texas High School career touchdown record two weeks ago against Lovelady and is second on the all-time rushing list.
"It is a reward for all the hard work Traylon has put in the last four years during the season and the offseason," Allison said.
Several big names in the NFL and college football have played in the All-American Bowl including Reggie Bush, Tim Tebow and Palestine's Adrian Peterson.
"It is an honor to know that I will be playing in the same game that those other players have been in," Shead said.
Players for the All-American Bowl, which is in its 10th year, are selected by a committee made up of SportsLink's network of regional directors throughout the country, Rivals.com and Tom Lemming.
But while it is an honor for Shead to be selected to play in the prestigious game, Shead currently is more focused on winning a state title.
"Right now my focus and preparation is on hopefully the next two weeks," Shead said. "My main focus is the playoffs and then after that, I will get excited about this."
[rl]