CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Boston College’s Bryce Steele and Georgia Tech’s Keylan Rutledge were named the recipients of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 2025 Brian Piccolo Award, the league announced on Monday.
The Piccolo Award has been given annually since 1970 in memory of the late Brian Piccolo to the "most courageous" football player in the ACC. As a standout running back at Wake Forest, Piccolo was the ACC Athlete of the Year in 1965 and played for the Chicago Bears before his career was cut short when he was diagnosed with cancer. His courageous fight against the disease was an inspiration to the Bears and the entire football community.
Steele and Rutledge have faced battles most athletes could never imagine—one confronting multiple bouts of cancer, the other surviving a devastating car accident—and yet both returned to the football field, proving that resilience and determination can overcome even the toughest obstacles.
Steele, a 2025 Capital One Orange Bowl–FWAA Courage Award nominee, has returned to the field after missing the 2024 season while battling cancer. This was not Steele’s first fight with the disease, as he was first diagnosed with a rare thymoma in 2019, requiring the removal of a 13-centimeter tumor near his heart. Despite the diagnosis occurring during his high school recruitment period, Steele kept it private and successfully beat the cancer before joining the Boston College football program.
Unfortunately, the cancer returned repeatedly, necessitating multiple surgeries over the years and eventually spreading to his chest wall. After a failed round of chemotherapy in 2023, Steele and his family chose an alternative surgical approach. Two months later, he was out of the hospital, cleared for non-contact training, and began the challenging process of relearning how to walk and breathe due to diaphragm weakness. By August 2024, Steele was cleared for full-contact football.
In 2025, Steele appeared in nine games for the Eagles, contributing 16 tackles, a fumble recovery, a quarterback hurry and a pass breakup. While the statistics are modest, his return represents an extraordinary triumph over adversity. Steele becomes the third Boston College student-athlete to receive the ACC Brian Piccolo Award and the first since defensive end Richard Yeargin in 2019.
Rutledge, a 2025 Lombardi Award semifinalist and All-America candidate, made an extraordinary comeback following a life- and career-threatening accident. On December 10, 2023, near his hometown of Royston, Georgia, Rutledge’s car was pushed into a concrete construction barricade on I-85, flipping twice into a ditch. He escaped the heavily damaged vehicle and began walking barefoot up the embankment for help, severely injuring his left big toe. Rutledge was transported to a local hospital, where surgeons reattached the toe using multiple pins.
Upon arriving at Georgia Tech in January 2024, Rutledge’s injury was further complicated by a severe infection, likely caused by walking through motor oil and gasoline. He was treated with aggressive intravenous antibiotics via a PICC line for six weeks, followed by a second surgery to re-break and reset the toe bones and a skin graft to promote proper healing. He spent about seven months in intensive wound care and rehabilitation, relearning proper toe function before returning to football conditioning in late June 2024.
Rutledge played his first snap on July 24, 2024, just over eight months after the accident, and has started all 24 games over the last two seasons. In 2025, he anchors an offensive line that ranks in the top 20 nationally in total offense, rushing offense, red zone offense and fewest sacks allowed, earning recognition from Pro Football Focus as one of the nation’s top 15 guards in overall, run and pass blocking. Rutledge’s recovery and performance stand as a testament to his resilience, determination and leadership. Rutledge becomes the fifth Georgia Tech student-athlete to receive the ACC Brian Piccolo Award and the first since running back Robert Godhigh in 2013.
ACC Brian Piccolo Award Winners
1970 Paul Miller, QB, North Carolina
1971 Jim Webster, LB, North Carolina
1972 Mark Johnson, QB, Duke
1973 Al Neville, QB, Maryland
1974 David Visaggio, DG, Maryland
1975 Scott Gardner, QB, Virginia
1976 Jeff Green, DE, Duke
1977 Ralph Stringer, DB, NC State
1978 Rex Varn, DB, Clemson
1979 Al Richardson, LB, Georgia Tech
1980 Jack Cain, DB, Clemson
1981 Aaron Stewart, DB, Duke
1982 Kenny Duckett, WR, Wake Forest
1983 John Piedmonte, OLB, Wake Forest
1984 J.D. Maarleveld, T, Maryland
1985 Danny Burmeister, DB, North Carolina
1986 Ray Williams, WR, Clemson
1987 no recipient
1988 Jerry Mays, TB, Georgia Tech
1989 Michael Anderson, RB, Maryland
1990 Marc Mays, WR, Duke
1991 Scott Adell, T, NC State
1992 Dan Footman, DE, Florida State
Randy Cuthbert, TB, Duke
1993 Scott Youmans, DL, Duke
1994 Chris Harrison, T, Virginia
1995 Warren Forney, DT, Clemson
1996 John Lewis, RB, Wake Forest
1997 Sam Cowart, LB, Florida State
1998 Anthony Poindexter, DB, Virginia
Corey Simon, DT, Florida State
1999 Chris Weinke, QB, Florida State
2000 Ed Wilder, FB, Georgia Tech
2001 Matt Crawford, T, Maryland
2002 Anquan Boldin, WR, Florida State
2003 Kevin Bailey, OL, Virginia
2004 Frank Gore, RB, Miami
2005 Ryan Best, S, Virginia
2006 Glenn Sharpe, Miami
2007 Matt Robinson, DE, Wake Forest
2008 Robert Quinn, DE, North Carolina
2009 Toney Baker, RB, NC State
2010 Mark Herzlich, LB, Boston College
Nate Irving, LB, NC State
2011 Giovani Bernard, RB, North Carolina
2012 Shayon Green, DE, Miami
Chris Thompson, RB, Florida State
2013 Robert Godhigh, RB, Georgia Tech
2014 Duke Johnson, RB, Miami
2015 Hunter Knighton, OL, Miami
2016 James Conner, RB, Pitt
2017 Trevon Young, DE, Louisville
2018 Greg Dortch, WR/KR, Wake Forest
2019 Richard Yeargin, DE, Boston College
2020 Nolan Cooney, P, Syracuse
2021 McKenzie Milton, QB, Florida State
Justyn Ross, WR, Clemson
2022 Sam Hartman, QB, Wake Forest
2023 Mike Hollins, RB, Virginia
2024 Eli Pancol, WR, Duke
2025 Bryce Steele, LB, Boston College
Keylan Rutledge, OL, Georgia Tech