Schools

EG's Andrew Miner Named High School Heisman Finalist

The EGHS student athlete is 1 of only 12 high school students in the country to reach this round.

It was an ordinary Thursday, then suddenly it wasn’t. Into Andrew Miner’s classroom at East Greenwich High School came several cameramen, other mysterious adults and, strangest of all, his parents and younger sister.

He’d been named a finalist in the Wendy’s High School Heisman program, a parallel to the college Heisman program. The Heisman website says it looks for “well-rounded young men and woman who excel in learning, performing, and leading in the class room, on the field and in the community.”

In other words, Andrew Miner.

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The senior is ridiculously well-rounded: football quarterback, baseball pitcher, award-winning musician, accomplished writer, National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist, theatrical leading man and Arctic explorer. Really.

“I just think he’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime kids,” said EG Athletic Director Chris Cobain. “I think when you get the balance he has in so many areas and his level of accomplishment is always above average if not at the excellence level – it’s very rare that you find that.”

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Cobain admits Miner’s attributes could be off-putting in someone else.

“He’s one of those boys that, people could easily not like him, because he’s just so good at everything. But everybody loves him,” he said. “It says something to his character, his personality. He can along with people – adults, peers, fortunate, less-fortunate, doesn’t matter. He does not discriminate.”

Miner applied to the Heisman program in early October and was named one of the two Rhode Island finalists two weeks ago. Now he must wait until Dec. 13 to find out of if he’s one of the two (one boy and one girl) winners.

Each of the 12 high school Heisman finalists earn $2,000 for their school and receive $100 to spend at Wendy’s. The two winners will earn $10,000 for their schools and $500 to Wendy’s.

The application process asked for a one-sentence philosophy. This was Miner’s: “The road to excellence is walked best when walked with teammates.”

It’s classic Miner, who is also a blogger for EG Patch. In fact, his first blog post came two days after he broke his leg during a football game sophomore year – a season-ender. In that piece, Miner wrote about how a visit at the hospital from his football buddies caused his gloom to disappear, especially when he saw a giant Pooh Bear walk into the room:

"Don’t be fooled. That honey-loving bear is a fierce competitor who caught my touchdown pass on Friday night.  He played the ball perfectly and came down with it in the endzone beating the best corner in Division 3 in the process. That’s what football is all about. Team. Courage. Being there for each other."


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