Christmas named FCS All-American by Associated Press

Published 5:51 pm Thursday, December 13, 2018

As his college career winds down, De’Arius Christmas is piling up award after award. This week, he added two All-America honors to his impressive resumé.

Christmas, the Grambling linebacker and former Warren Central star, was selected to the Associated Press FCS All-America third team. He was the only player from the Southwestern Athletic Conference to make the team.

Christmas led Grambling in sacks (5.5) and was second in tackles for loss (11.0). The senior was third in tackles (55) and registered 30 solo stops, which tied for first on the team.

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In addition, Christmas added seven quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, two interceptions, including a 66-yard touchdown return against Alabama State, and one blocked kick.

He was named the SWAC Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season — the first player in 20 years to accomplish the feat — and earlier this week was picked as a first-team HBCU All-American by BOXTOROW.

Christmas was also a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy and the Doris Robinson Award given to the top scholar-athletes in college football.