Georgia’s Brandon Boykin wins Paul Hornung Award
Brandon Boykin records one of his three scores against Michigan State in the Outback Bowl, this one a 13-yard TD reception. (AP photo)
ATHENS – The two-year-old Paul Hornung Award was designed to go to the most versatile college football player in the nation. Hard to argue against Georgia’s Brandon Boykin when you start talking about versatility.
Boykin
The Bulldogs’ senior cornerback was named the recipient of that award Monday morning. He topped Arkansas’ Joe Adams, Oregon’s LaMichael James and Toledo’s Eric Page to earn the honor.
“Winning the Paul Hornung Award is an amazing accomplishment and one that I will forever cherish as one of my greatest accomplishments,” Boykin said in a statement released through UGA. “I am humbled by the fact that I was selected as the winner by Mr. Hornung andeveryone else involved with the selection process. I would like to thank my teammates, coaches, fans and the entire Georgia program for helping me to achieve this incredible achievement.”
Boykin’s performance this past season left little to chance. The Fayetteville resident finished the 2011 season with these stats:
- Defense — 55 tackles, including 11 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, 1 safety.
- Special teams — 850 kickoff return yards, 180 punt return yards, 1 touchdown
- Offense — 103 yards rushing, 80-yard TD run, 5 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.
For his career, the 5-10, 183-pound Bulldog is Georgia’s all-time leader in kickoff return yardage with 2,663, which ranks second on the SEC’s all-time list. Boykin is also the only player in SEC history with three 100-yard plays of any kind. He completes his UGA career with 159 total tackles, 20 tackles for loss, nine interceptions, four kickoff returns for touchdowns and one punt return for a touchdown.
“It’s rare for a modern-day college football player to perform at a high level in all three phases of the game, especially in an elite conference,” Paul Hornung said in a release. “From what I’ve seen of Brandon Boykin, he is willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win games. That’s how I played the game. Brandon Boykin is a deserving winner of thePaul Hornung Award.”
Boykin saved his best for last. Boykin was named Most Valuable Player in the Outback Bowl in Tampa on Jan. 2 despite the fact his team lost to Michigan State 33-30 in overtime. Again, Boykin left little to chance.
On the Spartans’ first offensive play, Boykin recorded a safety by knocking Keshawn Martin into the end zone after he received a pass on a quick hitch route. Boykin extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 16-0 late in the first half on a bowl record-breaking 92-yard punt return for a touchdown. Boykin then helped Georgia recapture the lead in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Aaron Murray.
In addition, Boykin finished with four kickoff returns for 70 yards, giving him a school record 2,663 yards on 110 returns (24.21 yards/return). The Bulldogs starting cornerback was also fourth on the team with seven tackles, including two for loss, and had two carries for eight yards against the Spartans.
“There are not many players who have the skill sets Brandon possesses and he’s certainly the model of what the Hornung Award represents,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “I wish I had three of him. He could start on offense, defense and special teams. He’s an outstanding person as well, a great leader, and a great Georgia man. We have been blessed to have him as a Georgia Bulldog.”
Boykin will now join three of his teammates at the 2012 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 28 as he prepares for the NFL Draft.
“My experience at Georgia has changed my life in so many positive ways and allowed me to be considered for such a prestigious honor,” Boykin said. “Being a Georgia Bulldog has helped groom me into the individual I am on and off the field.”
Here’s a pretty good tribute video somebody made of Boykin’s great plays. Underscores how much the Bulldogs are going to miss him. Warning: May want to turn down sound due to some strong language in accompanying music. . . .
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132 comments Add your comment
North ave. faithful
January 9th, 2012
11:46 am
Great athlete, almost beat MS single handedly. Would love to have a couple like him in the old gold and white. GOOD LUCK IN THE NFL!
BigTimeTechFan
January 9th, 2012
11:51 am
Congrats, he’s good player.
Suprized the Coales from Va Tech was not at lest a runner up. very good receiver, special teams returner, and Punter
ARdawg
January 9th, 2012
11:54 am
“evil empire
January 9th, 2012
10:10 am
bb couldn’t hold the honey badger’s jock…just sayin’…lsu recruits and coaches up kids so that there is no reason for a db to have to make up for poor offensive personnel…good for bb…cmr and staff should be embarrassed…but won’t be…”
Douche.bag trollish behavior isn’t exemplified more than this post by the douche.bag troll evil empire. Grow the hell up moron and quit letting your UGA hatred rule your life
Brucerugby79
January 9th, 2012
11:56 am
What an outstanding person and football player-He will be a great at whatever he does-good luck to a DGD!! He will be remembered fondly at UGA forever
evil empire
January 9th, 2012
12:01 pm
brandon boykin = nobody special…
KB
January 9th, 2012
12:06 pm
evil empire shows a large amount of ignorance on a daily basis. This award is given out to players for not being special.What a dumb ass.
evil empire
January 9th, 2012
12:07 pm
hey flatsdawg1 …nice job of gravy training a washed up former uga playa on tebow’s back…
evil empire
January 9th, 2012
12:09 pm
boykin is a special teamer in t-town or baton rouge…
KB
January 9th, 2012
12:11 pm
evil how stupid bailey will be playing in his 11th pro bowl this year. yep he’s all washed up.Dumb ass
dawggirl
January 9th, 2012
12:11 pm
MMerrill – great story! Thanks for sharing it. Only solidifies what we all already know. Brandon Boykin is class through and through. The trolls could learn a thing or two from him.
RedandBlackDAWG
January 9th, 2012
12:13 pm
Evil Empire,
the reason he couldn’t hold the honey Badgers jock as you say, is because you have your head too far up his lower intestines, for there to be any room for that. You are one jerk if there ever was one. I bet you are all of 14 if that, because only an idiot would post something like that. Stick to your X box. It is something you can play and don’t have to be very good at. As far as football and the character of a person goes, your stupid comments are not needed.
Hurt Kurbstreit
January 9th, 2012
12:21 pm
The Falcons need to draft BB. They could use the help in the secondary. Brandon has a big future ahead of him in the NFL.
Snoop Dawg
January 9th, 2012
12:29 pm
To our black bigot blogger, why don’t we rename it the Jeremiah Wright award?
Brandon Boykin is a class act. I am proud that he did his four years in the Red and Black. He’ll also get a degree. That’s important.
He will be a star in the NFL for many years barring injury.
It’s just too bad that he suffered this year from our lousy special teams play since Preacha Man didn’t think it important enough to assign one of his assistants as the special teams coach. This lost us more than one game this season. Just dumber than dirt, but he’s getting millions a year and we are renegotiating his contract as I write! If we had had a credible special teams, there’s no telling how his return yardage would have exploded…
The NFL has a lot of stars who play in the NFL but who were not coached up at UGA…
Best of luck Brandon Boykin. You’re a DGD!
KB
January 9th, 2012
12:36 pm
Yes snoop they don’t get coached up at georgia but play in the NFL, if they weren’t coached up at georgia they wouldn’t get drafted.
BillS
January 9th, 2012
12:38 pm
Evil Empire, not sure what accounts for your small-minded, thoughtless responses about Boykin’s honor. You may disagree — you clearly do — but Boykin is unarguably a quality player. FYI, The LSU player you refer to is not eligible for the award. Give your anger a break, dude.
some sense
January 9th, 2012
12:41 pm
This is fine and good, Chip, but who is and isn’t in class today?????
evil empire
January 9th, 2012
12:41 pm
lsu is about crystal footballs, not bs individual awards that get no mention except in the winning players home town…heard that your boy aaron murray is a finalist in the tony romo all american choker award…losers…
UGA Insider
January 9th, 2012
12:47 pm
What kind of an idiot would come to this blog and say something negative about a person they don’t know or have and relationship with? Talk about low class jealousy. I don’t get why someone would come on here and defame a guy who has worked countless hours and received a nice award from that work.
Also, shame on the AJC for allowing open comments on this story. There is NO point and I ask you take down comments at once!!
beanster
January 9th, 2012
12:51 pm
Awesome video. I think the punt return in the bowl game was his most spectacular play given that he ran backwards and could/probably should have been toast but managed to elude all 11 of their guys. What a way to cap a career. We will sorely miss that dude.
Chip, I am shocked you aren’t a Waka fan. LOL!
evil empire
January 9th, 2012
12:52 pm
the empire has spoken…
Will
January 9th, 2012
12:53 pm
Chip are you still around? Your blog is going to crap with people like evil empire. Most people are getting tired of reading it everyday and are going to other blogs. You better get a grip on these hacks or your readership will continue to decline.
Nom Nom Nom Chucks Taylor, or Norris if he is avaliable
January 9th, 2012
12:56 pm
@Will…..ditto.
Nom Nom Nom Chucks Taylor, or Norris if he is avaliable
January 9th, 2012
12:56 pm
As in agree.
Supes
January 9th, 2012
1:00 pm
Thank you Brandon Boykin for 4 outstanding years at UGA. Thank you for being an unselfish, hard worker…who applied himself on the field and got his degree as well. Congratulations on this award, you’ve earned it! Wish you all the best at the next level, and will be cheering you on watching you make plays in the NFL.
Boykin = DGD! Nuff said, wish there were more players on our team out there that had this kind of loyalty to the program, their team mates and were proud to wear the “G” day in and day out.
evil empire
January 9th, 2012
1:01 pm
awww.sorry i hurt your feelings…let me take another direction…go dawgs! can’t wait till we tee it up against buffalo!! GATA!!!!!!!
evil empire
January 9th, 2012
1:03 pm
UGA=SEC Champs in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, etc, etc, etc…go you silver britches!!!
evil empire
January 9th, 2012
1:04 pm
I HEART UGA!!!!!!!!!! IC for Heisman in 2012…and 2013…
evil empire
January 9th, 2012
1:07 pm
I wish we could play bama, LSU, and arky every year. Maybe that would shut up all the trolls who complain about our schedule…throw in some non conference games against USoCal, oregon, texas, michigan…and anybody else who would challenge the mighty bulldawg nation…GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!
evil empire
January 9th, 2012
1:08 pm
see, that sounds just as ignorant…6 of one, half dozen of another…
dawgfan
January 9th, 2012
1:10 pm
We should have used him on offense more. We had little to no running game whatsoever at the end of the season and one of the most dynamic players in all of college football was sitting on the sidelines. When this guy touches the ball things happen. Hard for things to happen when he’s sitting on the sidelines while a bunch of freshmen tote the rock.
Mike Bobo=The Worst OC in the SEC.
Congrats Brandon
January 9th, 2012
1:16 pm
Pretty raunchy song on the video though.
Hairy Dawg
January 9th, 2012
1:19 pm
You’re a DGD, Brandon. I hope you join the long list of Dawgs who have tasted success in the NFL.
GT Man
January 9th, 2012
1:20 pm
You’re a great player, Brandon. Dang, I’m glad you’re a senior. Good luck at the next level!
Joey
January 9th, 2012
1:26 pm
Congrats to a DGD! Good luck in the NFL Draft. We’re gonna mis you in ‘12.
Paul in NH
January 9th, 2012
1:32 pm
Boykin did well on all 3 facets – a well deserved award.
Bank Walker, Texas Ranger
January 9th, 2012
1:34 pm
Damn Good Dog
WDE
January 9th, 2012
1:37 pm
Congrats Mr.Boykin DGD ! You will be missed,but thanks for all your hard work you made UGA proud!! Best of luck in the future in the NFL and beyond !
DawgByte
January 9th, 2012
1:48 pm
Now that’s a damn good dawg! We are going to miss him, big time!!! Brandon’s the best D-back we’ve had in years, decades.
JDawg1785
January 9th, 2012
2:13 pm
Congrats on your accomplishment, Brandon! You’ve done nothing but make the Bulldog Nation proud since the moment you stepped on campus. Best of luck on Sundays! You will be missed at UGA. DGD!
Dawglasville
January 9th, 2012
2:17 pm
Thanks Brandon to the years of highlights and memories you have given us. Most of all, thanks for being a great example for the younger players. Good luck to you sir.
Dawglasville
January 9th, 2012
2:20 pm
GT Man – thanks for the classy post (As you always do).
Win. P.
January 9th, 2012
2:42 pm
Chip, along the lines of JB’s 10:00am post. It would be interesting to know how many football players… programs like Al & LSU have available at a given point in time. Be it beginning of the season, national signing day, first game or whenever from which to field a football team. Then compare that number to some other SEC school. The number of scholarships (total) and (yearly) scholarships appear to be only part of the “formular” when determining the number of bodies that can be apart of a football “team”.
Am I correct assuming the number of college football “offers” and the number of atheletes “commits” can be very flexable depending on things like; the institution’s admission requirements,financial considerations,ethics, player school preferences and competition from other football programs?
Also, what are the limits on; partial atheletic scholarships, “walk ons”, red shirts and gray shirts? Who sets which limits; the institution, SEC or NCAA?
Many bloggers believe some programs go beyond recuiting for “specific needs” and use the recuiting process to “tie up” good atheletes and prevent them from joining competitive programs. Should this be applauded or comdeemed?
gdawginkalamazoo
January 9th, 2012
2:43 pm
Congrats and good luck at the next level! Damn Good Dawg!
Stinger2
January 9th, 2012
2:44 pm
A well deserved honor for No 2. Too bad we cannot get players like him at GT.
Bozydeco
January 9th, 2012
2:52 pm
Congratulations from an Auburn fan. Well- deserved!
Tobias Funke
January 9th, 2012
3:09 pm
Van Gorder to Auburn.
You heard it here first.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
January 9th, 2012
3:10 pm
VanGorder to Auburn? Very interesting move. Looks like the Falcons will end up replacing both OC and DC this offseason. Good for the Falcons!
DS_CE
January 9th, 2012
3:12 pm
Congratulations from a longtime Tech supporter. Best of luck on Sundays next year…..
Joey
January 9th, 2012
3:25 pm
Damn, BVG a War Eagle?
He’s probably sick to death of prima donna millionaires. He’s an excellent college DC – it’s a good hire for Auburn.
Bet Bobo’s stomach just started churning . . .
UGA Golfer
January 9th, 2012
3:31 pm
Great for Boykin, but the story now is about the turncoat Brian Van Gorder. Richt just basically lost his edge against Auburn, and don’t tell me Chizik didn’t know what he was doing. Auburn has lost 5 of 6 to Georgia, and the Auburn Bag Men (starting with Bobby Lowder and Pat Dye) want this to stop beginning next Fall. One way to stop it is to hire Van Gorder who likely owns a copy of the Georgia playbook. A bigger problem is Richt and Bobo won’t change a thing when they play Auburn as most of us would expect. I now expect to lose 4 of the next 5 games to Auburn. Outsmarted once again by Alabama’s little brother. Georgia just can’t seem to get over the hump as a program when the opportunity presents itself (was like this under Dooley as well). Richt himself never seems to have any sense of urgency either. Now we have this problem to deal with!