Southeastern Oklahoma State University Athletics

Drew Beard was a football standout for Southeastern Oklahoma State from 2001-2004, earning numerous honors and ultimately earning a place on the NCAA Division II 40^th Anniversary Team.
 
A native of Rush Springs, Okla., Beard spent his four-year career on the gridiron becoming one of the school’s most decorated athletes, culminating  his career by taking the Savages to their first NCAA Division II Playoff Game.
 
He is a two-time All-American at quarterback and was twice a finalist for the Harlon Hill Award for the nation’s top Division II football player.
 
He still holds 10 single game, season or career records at Southeastern and is the only SE player to appear in the top10 in single game passing and rushing performances, doing so twice in each category.
 
Beard has two of the school’s 10 best single season passing marks, and he is second all-time in passing yardage with 7,303 yards and fourth all-time in rushing yardage with 2,381 yards.
 
Beginning with the opener of his sophomore season in 2002, Beard started at quarterback for 31 straight games. He played in 39 games over his four seasons; and made 37 appearances under center.
 
Beard set career-high season marks for passing in 2004 as a senior while guiding the team to an 8-3 record and its first Division II playoff appearance, passing for 2,945 yards and 25 touchdowns. His best rushing season came during his junior campaign when he racked up 787 yards on the year, including a 214 yard outing against Southwestern Oklahoma State  plus two other performances of 100-plus yards. For his career he completed 420-of-814 passes for 7,303 yards and 65 touchdowns, averaging 17.4 yards per completion.  On the ground Beard tallied 2,381 yards and 28 scores while averaging 4.8 yards per carry.
 
In four years he compiled 9,758 yards of total offense and accounted for 93 touchdowns  while participating in 1,314 plays.
 
At the same time Beard was collecting accolades on the field, he was serving his country in the Army Reserves. Throughout his playing career, Beard was an active reservist often joining his fellow troops for training following  his Saturday games.  After graduating he joined the National Guard and was later deployed for a nine-month tour in Iraq.
 
Beard, through his efforts on and off the field, excelled to a level that brings great honor to Southeastern Oklahoma State University.  The University honored him with membership in the Southeastern Oklahoma State Athletics Hall of Fame on August 23, 2014.