Dec. 2, 2014
Andrew East’s offseason calendar is becoming incredibly interesting.
Vanderbilt’s four-year starter, considered among the top long snappers in America, is going to be busy for the next two months on and off the field.
On Monday, East accepted an invitation to play in the 66th Reese’s Senior Bowl. The nation’s premier all-star game, which features a week of practices in front of hundreds of National Football League coaches, executives and scouts, is scheduled Saturday, Jan. 24, in Mobile, Ala.
East’s January was going to be fun even without the Senior Bowl invitation. On Jan. 1, he and several other stellar student-athletes from across the nation will be recognized at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans as members of the 2014 Allstate-American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team. The native of Indianapolis, Ind., was named among 11 players nationally named to the Allstate-AFCA NCAA FBS Good Works team in late September.
East, a two-time special teams captain for the Commodores, is under consideration for more national recognition. East is one of 12 semifinalists for the Wuerffel Trophy that focuses on achievement in athletics, academics and community service. A national selection committee is expected to select three finalists for the award this week, with a formal announcement of the Wuerffel Trophy winner scheduled for Dec. 9.
East will become the 44th Vanderbilt player to participate in the Senior Bowl, which featured three Commodore standouts – wide receiver Jordan Matthews, offensive lineman Wesley Johnson and safety Kenny Ladler – in the 2014 edition.
East will be the first long snapper among Vanderbilt’s all-time Senior Bowl participants. A pair of former All-America punters, Ricky Anderson in 1984 and Jim Arnold in 1982, are the only other Commodore specialists to play in the Senior Bowl.
East is the second Commodore in as many years to receive Allstate-AFCA Good Works Team and Wuerffel Trophy consideration. In 2013, All-SEC placekicker Carey Spear was recognized for both awards.
East handed all snap responsibilities during his varsity career, a span of 51 games, helping the Commodores to consecutive 9-win seasons for the first time since the early 1900s. He was part of a senior class that compiled a 27-24 overall record, the program’s best modern-day, four-year record.
Off the field, East has been active in an array of community service efforts, both in the Nashville area as a Vanderbilt student and in his Indiana hometown.
An Eagle Scout, East has assisted several efforts aiding the homeless, including the Wheeler Mission in Indianapolis, Seven Bridges Ministry in Atlanta, and Room in the Inn in Nashville. He has actively mentored recovering addicts at the Hebron Center, spoken to several elementary school classes near Vanderbilt, and spent a summer working with disadvantaged youth with the Harvest Hands organization in South Nashville.
A two-year Fellowship of Christian Athletes president, East has served as a mission leader helping to improve housing and orphanages in impoverished areas of Peru, Haiti and Mexico.
Closer to campus, East has been a leader with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, and frequently visits with ailing youngsters getting treatment at the Vanderbilt Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital.
This is the 10th anniversary of the Wuerffel Trophy, an award named after former Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel, who led the Florida Gators to the 1996 national championship, played six years in the National Football League and has received national recognition for his humanitarian and community service efforts with Desire Street Ministries, in New Orleans and around the country.
