THE FLATS – Georgia Tech offensive lineman Keylan Rutledge (Royston, Ga./Franklin County H.S.) has been named a recipient of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 2025 Brian Piccolo Award, the ACC announced on Monday. One of the ACC’s most prestigious individual recognitions, the Piccolo Award is presented annually to the conference’s most courageous player.
Only the fifth Yellow Jacket to ever win the Piccolo Award, Rutledge overcame very serious injuries sustained in an automobile accident in December 2023 to become one of college football’s top offensive linemen over the last two seasons.
On Dec. 10, 2023, Rutledge was driving on Interstate 85 near his hometown of Royston, Ga. when his pickup truck was pushed into a construction barricade by another vehicle. Rutledge’s truck flipped twice into a ditch on the shoulder of the freeway. He managed to unpin himself from the vehicle but lost his shoe in the process. After walking barefoot up an embankment, a passerby that had stopped to offer assistance saw the extent of the injuries to Rutledge’s left foot. Rutledge was transported to a local hospital for emergency treatment, which included inserting multiple pins that stuck out of his skin to hold the bone of his big toe in place.
Upon Rutledge’s enrollment at Georgia Tech in January 2024, Tech’s sports medicine staff detected a significant infection, most likely due to him having to walk barefoot with an open wound through motor oil and gasoline immediately following the accident. The next day, a PICC line was placed from his arm to his heart to allow for antibiotics to be aggressively administered directly into his blood stream. The PICC line was in place for six weeks, during which Rutledge was administered infusions twice a day, seven days a week. After the infection was controlled, he underwent a second surgery, during which the bones in his big toe were re-broken and re-fixated and a skin graft was performed to allow for better healing.
After seven months of intensive wound management and rehabilitation, Rutledge began conditioning in late June of 2024 and played his first post-injury snap of football on the opening day of fall camp – July 24, 2024.
Despite not being at 100% at any point of the 2024 season, Rutledge was named first-team all-America by Sports Info Solutions, becoming Georgia Tech’s first non-specialist to earn first-team all-America honors in a decade.
He has taken his game to an even higher level in 2025, as he is ranked among the nation’s top 10 guards by Pro Football Focus in overall blocking (fifth), run blocking (sixth) and pass blocking (10th). A midseason all-American and two-time ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week, Rutledge did not allow a sack in 801 regular-season snaps, according to PFF.
With Rutledge anchoring Georgia Tech’s offensive line, the Yellow Jackets are ranked fifth nationally in fewest sacks allowed (nine in 12 games), 19th in rushing offense (203.0 ypg) and 12th in total offense (466.3 ypg), and were one of 10 semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award, which is given to the nation’s top offensive front.
Rutledge is only the fifth Yellow Jacket to ever win the Piccolo Award, joining LB Al Richardson (1979), RB Jerry Mays (1988), RB Ed Wilder (2000) and RB Robert Godhigh (2013).
The Piccolo Award was established in 1970 in honor of Brian Piccolo, who starred at Wake Forest before going on to play for the NFL’s Chicago Bears. Piccolo died of cancer at 26 and his story became the subject of the movie, Brian’s Song.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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