Georgia Tech’s Keylan Rutledge has been named one of two recipients of the ACC’s Brian Piccolo Award, the league announced Monday.
The Piccolo award has been given annually since 1970, in memory of Brian Piccolo, to the most courageous football player in the ACC. A standout running back at Wake Forest, Piccolo was the ACC athlete of the year in 1965 and played for the Chicago Bears before he was diagnosed with cancer.
Rutledge, a Lombardi Award semifinalist and All-American candidate, made a comeback following a life and career-threatening accident. On Dec. 10, 2023, near his hometown of Royston, Rutledge’s car was pushed into a concrete construction barricade on I-85, flipping twice into a ditch.
Upon arriving at Tech in January 2024, his injury was further complicated by infection. He was treated with aggressive intravenous antibiotics via a PICC line for six weeks, followed by a second surgery to rebreak and reset the toe bones and a skin graft to promote proper healing. He spent about seven months in intensive wound care and rehabilitation, relearning proper toe function before returning to football conditioning in June 2024.
Rutledge played his first snap in practice July 24, 2024, just a little more than eight months after the accident, and has started all 24 games over the past two seasons. In 2025, he anchored an offensive line that ranks in the top 20 nationally in total offense, rushing offense, red-zone offense and fewest sacks allowed, earning recognition from Pro Football Focus as one of the nation’s top 15 guards in overall, run and pass blocking.
Rutledge becomes the fifth Tech player (after Al Richardson, Jerry Mays, Ed Wilder and Robert Godhigh) to receive the Brian Piccolo Award and the first since Godhigh in 2013.
Boston College defensive back Bryce Steele also was honored Monday.
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