It is the first time in program history that four different players were recognized by Stats Perform as All-American.
Four Elon football players have earned All-American status this week. Both the Associated Press and Stats Perform announced their All-America teams.
Punter Jeff Yurk ’25 was named a first team All-American by both the AP and Stats Perform. Wide receiver/kick returner Chandler Brayboy ’25 earned first team All-American status by Stats Perform and second team honors by the AP. Defensive back Caleb Curtain was named Stats Perform Second Team All-American and defensive lineman Kahmari Brown ’28 was named to the Stats Perform Freshman All-American list.
It is the first time in program history that four different players were recognized by Stats Perform as All-American. In 2007, Michael Mayers earned third team honors as a wide receiver and honorable mention stats as a kick returner, Terrell Hudgins was first team at wide receiver and Scott Riddle was honorable mention at quarterback. Elon has never before had two players named Stats Perform First Team All-American in the same season. Yurk and Brayboy become just the ninth and tenth players in school history to be named Stats Perform First Team All-Americans.
Historically looking at the Associated Press All-American teams, Elon had two players named All-American just three times previously – 2022 (Skyler Davis and Marcus Hillman), 2008 (Andrew Wilcox and Terrell Hudgins) and 2006 (Hudgins and Chad Nkang). Yurk is just the ninth player in program history to earn first team status from the AP.
Yurk recorded the most dominant individual punting season in program history. He led FCS at 47.9 yards per punt, an average that ranks third across all levels of the NCAA. A total of 26 of his 60 punts traveled at least 50 yards, including a career-long 72-yarder. He had 19 punts inside the 20 and just four touchbacks. Yurk had four games in which he averaged over 50.0 yards per punt, including 52.8 yards across six punts against Western Carolina. PFF ranks him as the No. 3 punter in FCS and No. 5 in net punting.
Brayboy ranked No. 2 nationally in kick return average at 35.3 yards per return. He had two kickoff returns for touchdowns this year as well, doing so in the same contest against UAlbany. He led the CAA (and ranks No. 6 nationally) in all-purpose yards (151.4 per game) and was third in receiving yards per game at 89.0. He also ranked in the top five in the CAA in receiving touchdowns (8), receptions per game (5.4) and yards per reception (16.6).
Curtain becomes the first Elon player to be named an Associated Press All-American in two different seasons since Aaron Mellette did so from 2010-12. He led Elon with 75 tackles, 11 passes defended and two interceptions. Curtain also had four tackles for loss and 1.5 quarterback sacks. He had a critical interception in a win over Maine in the end zone and also had an interception against Duke, his second year in a row picking off a pass against an ACC team.
Brown had a standout season for the Phoenix as a true freshman, finishing the season with 33 tackles, 9.0 for loss and 4.5 sacks. He had a season-high six tackles at Hampton with 2.5 tackles for loss. He also had 2.5 tackles for loss against Western Carolina, totaling a season-best 2.0 sacks in that contest. Brown also forced a fumble against the Catamounts. Throughout the season, he had two quarterback hurries as well. Last week, Brown was named Freshman All-American by FCS Football Central.
The Elon Football team closed the 2024 season on a four-game win streak to finish 6-6 overall and 5-3 in CAA Football play. The Phoenix has now recorded at least six regular season wins and five conference victories in four consecutive years. Elon is the only program in the CAA to finish 5-3 or better in league play in each of the past four years.