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Rogers, Henderson Tabbed Pre-Season All-Americans
Mustangs Earn Honorable Mention Accolades
June 26, 2006

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - SMU defensive end Justin Rogers and kick returner
Jessie Henderson have been tabbed pre-season honorable mention
All-Americans by Street & Smith, the magazine revealed today. The
Mustangs also have two preseason All-Conference USA players in Rogers
and defensive back Joe Sturdivant.

Rogers earned second-team All-C-USA honors a year ago and shared SMU
Defensive MVP honors with Rolando Humphrey and Sturdivant. He led
Conference USA in sacks with seven and ranked in the top 10 in
tackles-for-loss and forced fumbles.

Henderson was co-winner of the James Bradley "New Mustang" award for
consistent play along with DeMyron Martin. A standout kick returner, he
was a third-team CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-American and a
third-team All-C-USA pick. He led Conference USA and ranked 13th in the
NCAA with a 27.6 ypr average.

Sturdivant, a second-team 2005 All-C-USA honoree, was SMU Defensive
Co-MVP along with Humphrey and Rogers. He was twice named the Conference
USA Defensive Player of the Week and was the only defensive player in
the league to win the honor multiple times in 2005. He led the Mustangs
in tackles and pass breakups and ranked first in passes defended (14)
and was fourth in stops (112) in Conference USA. His 112 tackles were 33
more than his closest teammate, and he had nine or more tackles in nine
games.

Heralded as "America's Sports Bible" for more than 60 years, Street &
Smith's College Football Yearbook is highlighted by its preseason Top 25
and All- America teams. Along with in-depth Division I-A team profiles,
the magazine includes every team's schedule and projected starters for
108 of the 118 teams. In addition, the yearbook dedicates 18 pages of
overviews along with predictions for each of the 15 Division I-AA
conferences, as well as a preseason top 25 and All-America team.

Street & Smith's College Football 2006 Yearbook hits newsstands June 27.

Anyone want to explain how Henderson can be an All-American mention but not an all-conference???

who cares - all i know is that henderson is fun to watch

me@smu wrote:Anyone want to explain how Henderson can be an All-American mention but not an all-conference???

You only get nominated for the best award...thus increasing the total people who get awards.

I seem to remember several years back that Tommy Kramer of Rice made first team all american but second team all conference to a quarterback from UT whose name I can't remember.

Different mags vote for different guys. Henderson also made All-Texas in Dave Campbell's rag.

More importantly, it's great to see some Mustangs getting some recognition from national publications. The more venues through which our guys get their names out there, the better.

Congratulations Justin and Jessie!

If they're nominating for honorable mentions, I would like to have seen DeMyron Martin and Bobby Chase on there, too. But this is big stuff for Rogers and Henderson. CONGRATULATIONS!

Congrats to more Mustangs being honored for their accomplishments!

It's about friggin' time! Congratulations!

Let me join the parade of fans lining up to congratulate Rogers and Henderson. A great honor!
Hope to make it to campus for at least one game this year, to see our ALL-AMERICAS in action.

I will tell you what..... I am absolutely flabbergasted to see "pre season All American" and an SMU player's name in the same sentence. This is something that would have felt nearly impossible a couple seasons ago. To have two is am excellent indicator of the direction of our program.

Congratulations to both these Mustangs. It is excellent to see the hard work by Justin and Jessie acknowledged by a respected national publication. Way to go fellas.

I still remember how skinny Rogers was when he signed. To see him looking like a beast and getting All-America ink is a testament to his willingness to work his tail off.

Congratulations to both!

Kiper wrote:I still remember how skinny Rogers was when he signed. To see him looking like a beast and getting All-America ink is a testament to his willingness to work his tail off.

Congratulations to both!

Justin Rogers is the ultimate example of coaches successfully projecting what a player might grow and develop into.

as for Henderson-there is a largely unnoticed rule change that could make Henderson an even bigger weapon this year. The Kicking tee has been reduced from 2 inches to 1 inch in hopes of reducing the number of touchbacks. Hard to say exactly how many more opportunities Henderson will get-but that can't be a bad thing.

I heard that in summer workouts, Kellis Cunningham is putting kickoffs out of the end zone, and sometimes through the uprights and into the seats. If that's anywhere near accurate, the tee shouldn't bother him one bit.

And I'm with you, Stallion -- anything to get Henderson more chances to return the ball. With those wheels, we need to get the football in his hands as often as possible.