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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
McCareins Picks Up Two More All-America Honors, Will Compete In Dec. 24 Gridiron Classic
December 14, 2005 | Football
Dec. 14, 2005
PRINCETON - Senior defensive back Jay McCareins, who led the nation in interceptions and helped Princeton to its first seven-win season in a decade, was named to two more All America teams and has accepted an invitation to play in the inaugural Magnolia Gridiron Classic All-Star Game. The game will take place on December 24 in Jackson, Mississippi at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
McCareins, who earned his first All America selection when the Walter Camp team was announced on Dec. 9, has been named to both the Sports Network and the Associated Press 2005 All America Teams. He is Princeton's first first-team All American since Taylor Northrop earned that distinction as a placekicker in 2001. The last Princeton defensive player to be named a first-team All American was Dean Cain, who earned the honor after setting a Princeton record with 12 interceptions in 1987. McCareins is now second on the single-season list after recording nine interceptions this season.
McCareins will also represent Princeton at the first Magnolia Gridiron Classic, a game that will pit NCAA Division I-A seniors, whose teams did not advance to a bowl game, against NCAA Division I-AA seniors.
"I am very excited an honored to be selected to play in Magnolia's inaugural game," McCareins said. "This is a great chance to represent Princeton and the Ivy League and show the rest of the nation the competitiveness of the Ivies."
McCareins, a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, which will go to the top Division I-AA defensive player in 2005, was the ultimate playmaker for a Princeton squad that won seven games for the first time since 1995. He scored four touchdowns this season despite not gaining one offensive yard all season. He returned interceptions for scores in wins over Lafayette and San Diego, and he returned a missed field goal 100 yards for a score in the season-ending 30-0 win over Dartmouth. His biggest play, and arguably the biggest play in the last decade of Princeton football, came when he returned a fourth-quarter kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown for the winning margin in a 27-24 victory at Harvard. The final play of his career, fittingly, was an interception, the ninth of his season and 18th of his brilliant career. To view the 2005 AP All America Team, click here, and to view the 2005 Sports Network All America Team, click here.