Sports Link Wins Sixth Outstanding Feature @SVGCollege Sports Media Awards

Ball State Sports Link’s feature story Dear Teddy, produced by Tyler Bradfield and Connor Nichols, earned yet another prestigious national honor when it was selected as the Outstanding Special Feature at the 2017 College Sports Media Awards in Atlanta.

The top honor marked the sixth time in the last seven years Sports Link students have won the award for special feature. The win was Ball State Sports Link’s eighth overall CSMA trophy in the nine-year history of the competition.

Overall, Sports Link earned four nominations in 2017, bringing its total to an SVG-record 30 nominations since 2011.

“We are firm believers that awards are more a representation of the people that support you than the people up here accepting on this stage,” Tyler Bradfield, Ball State Sports Link, graduate assistant, digital sports production. “So thank you to Ball State Sports and our exceptional instructors.”

ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi presented Sports Link with is sixth CSMA for Outstanding Special Feature.

The Sports Video Group (SVG) and National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) partnered to shine a spotlight on the very best in college-sports video at the ninth-annual College Sports Media Awards, sponsored by Ross Video.

ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi hosted the CSMA ceremony with a mix of levity and emotion. The ESPN broadcasting legend opened the evening with a celebratory message to all of the night’s nominees.

“The fact that you’re in this room is great victory in and of itself — and I could not say that in any more of a heartfelt way,” Rinaldi said. “It’s a great celebration and reflection of the work you have committed to do. And it’s work that all of your viewers and audiences enjoy.”

The #SLFeatured Dear Teddy tells the remarkable story of Ball State Football’s Teddy Williamson, who graduated a semester early in December with a degree in finance.

Williamson’s father, Ted Sr., was incarcerated in federal prison for drug trafficking and never saw his son play football in high school or college until Teddy’s junior year at Ball State.

College Sports Media Awards winners and finalists are selected by a blue-ribbon panel of industry peers and celebrate the very best in college-sports-video production.

For more information on the SVG/NACDA College Sports Media Awards, visit www.svgcollege.com.