ARKADELPHIA — It remains to be seen if the Ouachita Tigers of the Great American Conference will be involved in postseason football, but one of their players, senior fullback Spencer Knight, is going to the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Knight was named one of 22 college football players on the 2014 American Football Coaches Association Allstate Good Works Team. The award honors the players as student-athletes who have made a positive impact on the lives of others. The Tiger from Arkadelphia is one of 11 selected from the NCAA Divisions II and III and NAIA teams. Another 11 players were selected from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.
While the official announcement was made by OBU on Tuesday, Knight said he learned about his selection after the Tigers’ win over East Central University of Oklahoma at Cliff Harris Stadium in Arkadelphia on Sept. 20.
“One of my friends tweeted me a picture from ESPN The Magazine about who was named to the team,” Knight said. “It is a huge honor, and there are a lot of players who are deserving of this award, but I am glad to represent my team and Ouachita Baptist.”
According to an announcement from the AFCA, the players are
being recognized not only for dedicating their time to succeeding in football, but for also contributing to the greater good of their communities.
The award comes with a trip to the Sugar Bowl, which will be one of the semifinals to the first national football championship decided by a three-game playoff.
“All the players [on the Good Works Team] will go down to New Orleans the week before the bowl game,” Knight said. “We will all do some community service in the city that week, and then I’ll get a plaque during halftime at the Sugar Bowl. They have told us to wear our team jersey and black slacks.”
The business-management major has participated in numerous charitable events in Arkadelphia during his four years at OBU, including Tiger Service Days, one Saturday each semester when hundreds of students from Ouachita Baptist form teams and go into the community and help with yard cleanup, painting and other minor repairs around the homes of the elderly, disabled and others in need of a helping hand.
“We can’t take part in the next Tiger Day this Saturday,” Knight told the Tri-Lakes Edition on Wednesday night. “We will be on the way to Oklahoma for a game, but the team always takes part in Tiger Days in the spring.”
Knight has also worked in OBU’s Operation Christmas Child, and he serves as a Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church in Arkadelphia.
However, it was probably Knight’s actions in January that gained the attention of the selection committee. That is when the fullback underwent a bone-marrow harvest for a young boy in Canada.
Spencer said the donation story began in his freshman year.
“That year one of my teammates, sophomore Justin Waite, was diagnosed with leukemia,” Knight said. “He came by to see us at one of the games, and to see how the disease had wasted the big guy ripped my heart up.”
Knight said when they learned how a bone-marrow transfer might help his teammate, he and other players signed up as potential donors for the “Be The Match” program in 2011. No match was found for Waite, who later died from his illness. While Knight was not a match for his teammate, he answered the call two years later when he was contacted about his match with a young boy he’d never met.
When asked over the phone by the “Be The Match” representative if he was still willing to participate in the program, Knight said it was a no-brainer.
“It was cool to know that a 3-year-old in Canada was a match with me. It was extraordinary,” Knight said. “My parents and I had a lot of questions, but I felt this was part of God’s plan, so I knew I had to follow it through.”
Knight’s actions and response to his call to service came as no surprise to OBU President Rex Horne.
“I have observed Spencer for years,” Horne said. “His character, leadership and service are obvious. He is deserving of this incredible recognition.”
Ouachita Tigers Athletic Director David Sharp was equally complimentary of Knight’s example.
“Ouachita Athletics is extremely excited for and proud of Spencer Knight for being selected to the 2014 AFCA Allstate Good Works Team,” Sharp said. “Spencer chose to give of himself so another would benefit, which is quite a sacrifice. He displays exemplary service and is a true difference maker.”
Knight’s selection marks the second consecutive year that a member of the Great American Conference was selected for the Good Works Team.
“It’s great to see our league represented again on the AFCA Allstate Good Works Team,” said Will Prewitt, Great American Conference commissioner. “Spencer is certainly a deserving candidate. He’s a great representative for the Ouachita football family and the GAC.”
The 2014 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team was selected by a panel made up of former Good Works Team members Zaid Abdul-Aleem of Duke University’s 1994 team; Matt Stinchcomb, who played with the University of Georgia in 1997 and 1998; Brian Brenberg from the 2001 team at the University of St. Thomas; and Mike Proman, who played for Amherst College in 2002.
Media members included Lou Holtz and Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN, Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports and Blair Kerkhoff of The Kansas City Star. Also serving on the panel were AFCA president and Ithaca College head coach Mike Welch; 1987 AFCA president and former head coach at Brigham Young University LaVell Edwards; and Jim Haskins, president of Allstate Insurance Co.’s West Territory.
Fans can help select the captain of the 2014 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. By visiting ESPN.com/Allstate, fans can learn more about all of this year’s team members and vote for the player they feel best embodies the spirit of the Good Works Team.
Knight, who calls himself a blocking fullback, said he is thinking about going into coaching football after graduation. That is not surprising — he is the son of Tigers head coach Todd Knight.
“I’m asked about it all the time. A lot of people tell me they could not imagine being coached by their father. I can’t imagine not playing for my dad,” Spencer said. ” I have been doing it so long, it is part of our close relationship. Sports can bring people together.”
Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be reached at (501) 244-4460 or wbryan@arkansasonline.com.