LIVINGSTON, Ala. – Before Saturday's football game against West Florida, senior linebacker Michael Anderson was honored with the fourth annual Charley Glenn Award for Heroic Service.
The annual award is voted on by the UWA team and goes to a current Tiger football player for extraordinary service to the West Alabama football program of Staff Sgt. Charles Lee Glen. It has become a Tiger tradition to present the award during the Military Appreciation Day.
"Mike is a tremendous asset for our team," said head coach Brett Gilliland. "He is a strong leader and approaches the game the right way, and he believes in our program and has an impact every day."
From Chatom, Ala., Anderson joined the UWA football team and was redshirted in 2017. Since then, he has been an active force on the Tiger defense and received Jack's Player of the Week recognition earlier in the season.
Previous recipients of the award include former student-athletes Bob Myers, Montell Dent, and Call Dyer.
A UWA graduate and former Tiger football player, Glenn was also a military veteran and Bronze Star recipient. He played football at UWA from 1994-97, earning numerous academic honors before enlisting in the United States Army on June 17, 2003.
An Army Special Forces Soldier, Glenn, lost his life in the service of our nation on May 17, 2007, after losing consciousness during a training event at the Special Forces Underwater Operations School.
Glenn attended basic combat training and advanced individual training at Fort Benning, Georgia, before reporting to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course in 2003. Glenn was selected for Special Forces training and completed the Special Forces Qualification Course in 2005.
He reported to the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in December 2005, where he was assigned to a Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha. He completed a tour in Iraq before beginning the Combat Dive Qualification Course.
Glenn's family escorted Anderson on the field and presented him with the award in a pregame ceremony.
Anderson and the rest of the football team will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 13, when they host Mississippi College. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. inside of Tiger Stadium.
