June 23, 2004
Georgia Tech all-star defensive end Eric Henderson received the Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award, presented by the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics.
Henderson is one of four student-athletes to receive this year’s award, which recognizes students who have overcome great personal odds to achieve academic success while participating in intercollegiate athletics.
A rising junior from New Orleans, La., Henderson is an all-America candidate this fall after earning first-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference honors and leading the league in sacks last fall.
He was also named to the 2003 ACC All-Academic football team as well as the Georgia Tech Dean’s List last fall.
Henderson has overcome disadvantaged circumstances and personal tragedy, including the loss of his mother to cancer and his grandmother to kidney failure.
“I am quite sure that my mom and grandmother would be more proud of the fact that I was named to the Dean’s List at Georgia Tech, rather than first-team all-ACC in football,” said Henderson. “The struggles that I have experienced both personally and academically have shaped the person that I am today. I am well on my way to graduating from Georgia Tech. This has not been an easy road; I firmly believe, however, that my personal experiences have prepared me for a lifetime of success beyond playing the game of football.”
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