TAVON comes home to walk the stage
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WVU football legend Tavon Austin returns to Morgantown for commencement ceremony
Story by SHANNON STOWERS •
One of West Virginia University’s most prominent football players returned to Morgantown over the weekend to do something he didn’t get to do following his playing days: walk across the stage at graduation.
Tavon Austin, who led an explosive WVU offense from 2009-12, returned to Morgantown on Saturday to participate in commencement ceremonies. The 34-year-old NFL veteran graduated with a Regents Bachelor of Arts degree from the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, according to a news release from the university.
The Baltimore, Md., native arrived in Morgantown in 2009 as a highly-regarded high school player and quickly put his skills on display. In his sophomore year, he finished second on the team in receptions (58) for a team-leading 787 yards and led the team with eight receiving touchdowns.
Austin was named an All-American the next two seasons as he set multiple school and NCAA records.
In his senior season, he set a WVU single-game record with 14 catches against Baylor and shattered the program’s single game all-purpose yards record with a 572-yard performance vs. Oklahoma – six yards short of the NCAA record. The do-it-all athlete also set WVU’s single game rushing record with 344 yards in the Oklahoma game.
By the end of his career, he passed Avon Cobourne and Noel Devine and set WVU's career all-purpose yards record at 7,286 yards. He also passed Jock Sanders to establish WVU's career reception record at 288 and passed David Saunders to become WVU's career receiving yards leader with 3,413 yards.
Austin is the only player in NCAA history to score a touchdown four different ways in one season (catch, rush, kick and punt return) and became the first player in NCAA history to finish with more than 3,000 career receiving yards and more than 1,000 yards rushing.
The Mountaineer standout was drafted by the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, where he played until 2017. He followed that stint with two seasons in Dallas and time with the San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills in each of the following seasons.
Austin announced his retirement from professional football in August 2024.
Commencement ceremonies were held at Hope Coliseum on Saturday as hundreds of August and December graduates took their first steps as alumni of West Virginia University.
Story by SHANNON STOWERS •
One of West Virginia University’s most prominent football players returned to Morgantown over the weekend to do something he didn’t get to do following his playing days: walk across the stage at graduation.
Tavon Austin, who led an explosive WVU offense from 2009-12, returned to Morgantown on Saturday to participate in commencement ceremonies. The 34-year-old NFL veteran graduated with a Regents Bachelor of Arts degree from the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, according to a news release from the university.
The Baltimore, Md., native arrived in Morgantown in 2009 as a highly-regarded high school player and quickly put his skills on display. In his sophomore year, he finished second on the team in receptions (58) for a team-leading 787 yards and led the team with eight receiving touchdowns.
Austin was named an All-American the next two seasons as he set multiple school and NCAA records.
In his senior season, he set a WVU single-game record with 14 catches against Baylor and shattered the program’s single game all-purpose yards record with a 572-yard performance vs. Oklahoma – six yards short of the NCAA record. The do-it-all athlete also set WVU’s single game rushing record with 344 yards in the Oklahoma game.
By the end of his career, he passed Avon Cobourne and Noel Devine and set WVU's career all-purpose yards record at 7,286 yards. He also passed Jock Sanders to establish WVU's career reception record at 288 and passed David Saunders to become WVU's career receiving yards leader with 3,413 yards.
Austin is the only player in NCAA history to score a touchdown four different ways in one season (catch, rush, kick and punt return) and became the first player in NCAA history to finish with more than 3,000 career receiving yards and more than 1,000 yards rushing.
The Mountaineer standout was drafted by the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, where he played until 2017. He followed that stint with two seasons in Dallas and time with the San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills in each of the following seasons.
Austin announced his retirement from professional football in August 2024.
Commencement ceremonies were held at Hope Coliseum on Saturday as hundreds of August and December graduates took their first steps as alumni of West Virginia University.
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