Honors & Awards
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2017 Buck Buchanan Award Finalist - 10th place
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2018 Third Team STATS FCS All-American
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2018 Fourth Team Phil Steele FCS All-American
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2017 Second Team STATS FCS All-American
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2017 Second Team Phil Steele All-American
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2018 First Team All-CAA Football
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2017 First Team All-CAA Football
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2018 STATS FCS Preseason All-American
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2018 Athlon Sports Preseason All-American
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2018 HERO Sports Preseason All-American
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2018 Buck Buchanan Award Watch List
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2018 Preseason All-CAA Football
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STATS FCS National Defensive Player of the Week | Nov. 5, 2018
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CAA Football Defensive Player of the Week | Nov. 5, 2018
-Team MVP (2017)
Career Wrapup
Closed his career having played 42 games while making 31 starts at linebacker. In being named a First Team All-CAA Football honoree in back-to-back seasons, Messer became the first two-time All-Conference selection in Elon's CAA tenure and was the first since Aaron Mellette did it in 2011 and 2012 while becoming the first defensive player to accomplish the feat since Chad Nkang in 2005 and 2006. He was also named a STATS FCS All-American in back-to-back seasons. With a STATS FCS National Player of the Week honor on Nov. 5, 2018, the award marked the third time an Elon defensive player took the recognition since Elon's move to the FCS level.
In The Record Books:
13.0 Sacks (FCS era) - T-1st
318 Career Tackles (FCS era) - 7th
318 Career Tackles (program history) - 10th
194 Career Assisted Tackles (FCS era) - T-3rd
*all records as of the conclusion of the 2018 season
2018: Earned STATS FCS Third Team and Phil Steele FCS Fourth Team All-America honors after the season...Picked up a trio of preseason All-America honors from STATS FCS, Athlon Sports and HERO Sports and was named to the Buck Buchanan Award Watch List before the campaign...Closed the year with a team-high 93 tackles - 44 solo - with 11.0 for loss and 4.0 sacks...His 8.5 tackles per game ranked fourth in the CAA for the season...Also recorded three quarterback hurries and had an interception...Recorded double-digit tackles on three occasions...Had a career outing with 14 tackles - seven solo - with 2.5 for loss and 2.0 sacks to go with two quarterback hurries and an interception against Rhode Island...Returned the interception 86 yards for a touchdown against the Rams...Was named CAA Football Defensive Player of the Week and STATS FCS National Defensive Player of the Week for the performance...Also had 11 tackles at Delaware...Finished with 11 tackles with 2.0 for loss against No. 21 Furman...Recorded nine tackles against No. 20 Towson and eight stops with 0.5 for loss against No. 16 Maine...Finished with six tackles - five solo - and 2.0 sacks in Elon's road win over No. 2 James Madison...Was named First Team All-CAA Football for the second season in a row after the campaign while being named to the Preseason All-CAA Football team before the start of the slate.
2017: Earned second-team All-America honors from both STATS FCS and Phil Steele…First-team All-CAA Football linebacker…Finished 10th in the race for the Buck Buchanan Award…Started all 12 games…Posted a team-high 114 total tackles, including 11.0 for a loss and 5.5 sacks…Had two interceptions, three pass breakups and two forced fumbles…Led the team with eight quarterback hurries…Finished with 10 tackles and a quarterback hurry in the opener at Toledo…Tallied a team-best 12 tackles in a win over No. 16 Charleston Southern…Made a career-best 15 total tackles, including 1.0 sack and 1.5 tackles for loss, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass in a league win at No. 6 Richmond…Broke up two passes during a 12-tackle performance in a victory over No. 19 Albany…Had eight tackles, including a sack for a safety, in a win over William & Mary…Intercepted a pass with 28 seconds remaining to seal a win at Rhode Island…Recorded five total tackles, including 3.0 for a loss and 2.0 sacks, in a victory at No. 13 Villanova…Posted 12 total tackles, including 2.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks, at No. 16 New Hampshire…Notched 10 total tackles, including 1.0 for a loss, and had a pair of quarterback hurries in a playoff game against No. 22 Furman.
2016: Started all eight games in which he appeared…Tallied 66 total tackles, including 3.5 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks…Notched two quarterback hurries and broke up three passes…Made 11 tackles, broke up two passes and had a quarterback hurry against New Hampshire…Tallied a career-best 14 total tackles, including 1.5 for a loss and a sack, at Albany.
2015: Appeared in all 11 games as a true freshman…Recorded 45 total tackles, including 17 solo stops, 3.5 tackles for a loss and 2.0 sacks…Intercepted one pass and broke up two others…Forced one fumble and recovered two…Recorded the first sack of his career in a six-tackle performance at No. 20 New Hampshire…Made a season-best nine tackles at No. 16 Richmond…Had five tackles, an interception and a pass breakup in a victory at Stony Brook.
Prep: Collected three all-conference honors during his time as a prep…Claimed all-state recognition and was named the GNRC Defensive Player of the Year…All-academic team performer…Posted 402 career tackles, including 5.5 sacks…Forced seven fumbles, recovered four fumbles and intercepted three passes…Helped lead coach Thurman Leach’s team to a 4AA Eastern runner-up showings and a league title.
Personal: Son of Bill Messer and Wendy Adams…Born March 27, 1997.
