Western Wayne Today

Wayne State University has once again seen one of its football players earn Academic All-America honors. Graduate student linebacker Carl Ware was named a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Second Team Academic All-American, marking the fifth time in seven years that a player from WSU's football program has received this accolade. Ware becomes the 98th Academic All-American from Wayne State, with 73 of these recognitions occurring since 2000.

Ware completed his bachelor's degree in Marketing in May 2024 and is currently pursuing an MBA. He has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll twice and the Coach's Honor Roll once since transferring from Madonna University.

On the field, Ware made significant contributions during the season. He appeared in all 11 games, starting in ten of them. His performance included two sacks and a forced fumble at Tiffin, earning him WSU's Defensive Player of the Week award. Against Findlay, he recorded seven tackles, including one for loss. His game against Truman State was notable with nine tackles, including 2.5 for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and two pass break-ups.

Ware also had standout performances against Michigan Tech and Ferris State, leading to him being named GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts against Ferris State. Throughout the season, he led his team with four forced fumbles and tied for seventh nationally in this category.

In addition to his defensive prowess on the field, Ware ranked highly within the GLIAC conference across various statistics: seventh in total tackles (69), eighth in interceptions (2), ninth in assisted tackles (29), among others.

Notable past recipients of Academic All-America recognition from Wayne State include Ken Russell (1971), Gary Schultz (1971), Walt Stasinski (1972), Bob Rogers (1975), Lennie Jacosky (1983), Josh Renel (2011), Kyle Toth (2018 & 2019), and Lane Potter (2020 & 2021).