Wagner's Steve Ciocci Nominated For The Allstate, AFCA Good Works Team
7/18/2012
2012 ALLSTATE, AFCA GOOD WORKS TEAM PRESS RELEASE, NOMINEE LIST
Nortbrook, IL -- Fifth-year senior offensive lineman Steve Ciocci (Royersford, PA/ Spring-Ford) is one of 117 nominees for the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, it was announced today by the Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).
As one of college football’s most prestigious off-the-field honors, the award recognizes a select group of college football players committed to making a difference in their communities and for their commitment to volunteerism. Nominees for the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team hail from 35 states and 117 colleges and universities.
Since 1992, the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team has shown a spotlight on the countless “good works” and remarkable stories of service by student-athletes at all levels of college football competition. Award recipients represent the sport’s finest in terms of character and leadership in the community.
From the nominees submitted by sports information directors across the nation on behalf of their schools, a special voting panel consisting of former Allstate AFCA Good Works Team members and prominent college football media members will select two 11-player Good Works Teams – one comprised of players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. The other 11-player team will represent those from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, in which Wagner competes, along with nominees from Divisions II, III, and the NAIA. The final roster of 22 award recipients will be unveiled in September.
Last April, Ciocci was one of an elite group of six to receive an award at Wagner’s Civic Engagement Recognition Day Ceremony, which recognizes and honors exceptional individuals, departments and community partners who exemplify a sense of caring and responsibility for others that connects citizens and works to address community problems.
Throughout his time on Grymes Hill, Ciocci has devoted himself to raising the profile of numerous local and national organizations within the Wagner College campus and local community. He has mobilized a host of students to participate in such events as the Relay for Life, Operation Christmas Child, visiting children in the Pediatrics Ward at Staten Island University Hospital and finding donors for the National Marrow Donor Program.
“It’s really exciting to be nominated for the Good Works Team and it’s also very rewarding as it shows the effort that we’ve made in the community is paying off,” said Ciocci. “It’s more of a team-wide honor to be nominated because I couldn’t have done it without the help of all of my teammates.”
Most Recently, Ciocci was among a group of student-athletes who represented the college at a July 10 news conference to announce a partnership between Wagner Athletics, ShopRite and the Staten Island Advance announcing a community-minded effort that featured the declaration of an ambitious goal of donating 25 tons of food to Project Hospitality, an organization that feeds thousands in the Port Richmond area.
A mainstay on the offensive line where he started all 11 games last season at right tackle, the 6-4, 290-pound Ciocci, a two-time member of the Northeast Conference Academic Honor Roll, will enroll in Wagner’s MBA program this fall while maintaining his status on the football team as a fifth-year senior. Ciocci carries a 3.45 GPA with a major in business administration and a concentration in management and has an eye towards pursuing a career in coaching.
“This year’s Allstate AFCA Good Works Team nominees have some of the most impressive community service resumes in the program’s 21-year history,” said Kathy Mabe, president of Allstate’s West regions and a member of the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team voting panel. “These young men continue to raise the bar for the impact that student-athletes can have on others, and are an inspiration to Allstate, our agents and our employees.”
Tackles or touchdowns have no bearing on this award, for it is the many examples of “volunteerism” and “giving back” that have earned these players nominations from their respective colleges and universities. From comforting patients at children’s hospitals, to building houses for needy families, to mentoring at-risk youth, each Allstate AFCA Good Works Team member has his own unique and inspiring story.
“After looking through the list of nominees for the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, we are recognizing some of the best student-athletes in all of college football,” said Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. “These 117 nominees understand the impact each of them have on their schools and communities, and it gives me great pleasure in recognizing their efforts for what they stand for, and what they mean to college football.”
Allstate and the AFCA will launch the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team website on ESPN.com featuring profiles and images of the final team members, as well as the opportunity for fans to vote for the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Captain.
The 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team voting panel includes: former Good Works Team members Alex Van Pelt (Pittsburgh, 1992 team), Zaid Abdul-Aleem (Duke, 1994 team), Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia, 1997, 1998 teams), Grant Irons (Notre Dame, 1999 team), Brian Brenberg (St. Thomas, 2001 team), Mike Proman (Amherst, 2002 team); media members Lou Holtz (ESPN), Kirk Herbstreit (ESPN), Tom O’Toole (USA Today), Andy Staples (SI.com), Blair Kerkhoff (Kansas City Star); current AFCA President and Harvard University Head Coach Tim Murphy; 1987 AFCA President LaVell Edwards, former head coach at Brigham Young University; and Kathy Mabe, President, West Regions at Allstate.
In order to meet the criteria set forth by Allstate and the AFCA, each player must be actively involved and committed to working with a charitable organization, service group or community service while maintaining a strong academic standing.
The Allstate AFCA Good Works Teams were established in 1992 by the College Football Association, recognizing the extra efforts made by college football players and student support staff off the field. AFCA became the governing body of the award in 1997 and continues to honor college football players who go the extra mile for those in need. Allstate partnered to present the award starting with the 2008 season.
The SEC leads all conferences with 54 selections to the Good Works Team since it began in 1992. The SEC is followed by the Big 12 Conference with 40 selections and the Atlantic Coast Conference with 29 selections. With Aron White’s selection in 2011, Georgia moves into first place with 13 honorees to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. The Bulldogs are followed by Nebraska and St. Thomas (Minn.) with 12 honorees each. Super Bowl XLII, XLVI and XLI champion quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning were members of the 2002 and 1997 Good Works Teams, respectively.
The AFCA was founded in 1922 and currently has more than 11,000 members around the world ranging from the high school level to the professional ranks. According to its constitution, the AFCA was formed, in part, to “maintain the highest possible standards in football and in the coaching profession” and to “provide a forum for the discussion and study of all matters pertaining to football.”
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