It’s impressive enough that Georgia Tech defensive end Anree Saint-Amour amassed 11 tackles for loss, four sacks, nine quarterback hurries, two interceptions and three forced fumbles in his senior season.
On Thursday, he revealed that he did so while taking six classes this semester to graduate – in 3-1/2 years. Saint-Amour will participate in commencement exercises Saturday and will receive his business administration degree. A more typical course load is three or four classes.
“It was a tough semester, but thank God I got out,” Saint-Amour said.
Saint-Amour, who attended North Gwinnett High School, said he originally intended to graduate from Tech in May, but made the decision to move up his graduation by a semester so he wouldn’t have to worry about school while preparing for Tech’s pro day before the NFL draft. That meant increasing his course load this semester.
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So he did so while learning a new defensive scheme and playing at a level that merited All-ACC consideration.
“I don’t think it affected my play as much,” he said. “I got everything done throughout the week so I wouldn’t have to worry about anything on Friday before the game. And just being at Georgia Tech, one of the first things they really teach you just getting into the first couple years is just time management and how to balance out everything between studies and training and film and all that stuff. I feel like by this time in my career, I was able to handle it pretty well.”
Saint-Amour said there were “kind of” some moments this semester when he questioned his decision, “but I knew what I was getting into.”
But his objective is now completed, and he’ll be free to train for Tech’s pro day without any concerns about school. It’s conceivable he could get invited to the NFL draft combine in Indianapolis. One early projection pegged him as a fifth- or sixth-round pick.
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Before that, though, he’ll play in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit against Minnesota on Dec. 26. He has a personal goal of getting one more sack to set a personal career high for sacks in a season with five. (He had four as a sophomore.) More important, he’d like to send out coach Paul Johnson with a win in his final game coaching the Yellow Jackets and enjoy his final days as a Yellow Jacket.
“You just get to have fun with your boys,” Saint-Amour said. “It’s the last time that you’re going to play with them, you’re going to ride with them.”
And before that, he has graduation ceremonies.
“It’s a major accomplishment to get your degree from an institute like this and, coming in, you know it’s one of the best institutes in the world, and just to be able to get through that and get through the tough times, rough times and everything and balance it out with football, just be able to perform well on the field and in the classroom is a great thing,” he said.
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