Princeton’s Tyler wins Bushnell Cup as Ivy Defensive Player of the Year
Jeremiah Tyler already has three Ivy League football championship rings in his trophy cabinet, and now he can add the biggest individual prize.
Princeton’s senior linebacker completed a dream season when he won the Bushnell Cup as the Ivy’s Defensive Player of the Year on Monday in a presentation at the New York Athletic Club in midtown Manhattan.
“I’m so happy for Jeremiah,” said Princeton coach Bob Surace. “He not only had an excellent season worthy of the Bushnell Cup and a career that will go down as one of the finest in program history, but he was an outstanding leader. I have great respect for Princeton’s deep history and tradition. Jeremiah deserves to be among the select best that have played here. We have to go back a long way to find an individual defensive player that was so valuable to team success.”
Tyler took the 2020-21 school year off so that he could have the opportunity to return this season as a senior and he didn’t disappoint. The Detroit native and captain was a first-team All-Ivy selection and a finalist for the Stats Perform Buck Buchanan Award. He had a team-high 58 tackles (seven for a loss), with two sacks, a fumble recover for a touchdown and six pass breakups.
The Tigers finished the season 9-1, earning the program’s 13th Ivy championship. For Tyler, it was his third in four seasons on the field — he missed the 2017 campaign due to an injury — and the team posted a 35-5 record in games in which he played.
“We came to work every day, grinding, bleeding and sweating together,” Tyler said. “Taking this past year off, everyone knows the struggle we went through. We were able to come closer because of that and I’m truly grateful for you guys.”
Presented annually since 1970, The Asa S. Bushnell Cup honors its namesake, a 1921 Princeton alumnus and the commissioner of the Eastern College Athletic Conference from 1938 to 1970. The Bushnell Cup is awarded by a vote of the Ivy League’s eight head football coaches to the players who display outstanding qualities of leadership, competitive spirit, contribution to the team and accomplishments on the field.
From 1970 to 2010, the Bushnell Cup recognized an Ivy League Player of the Year (or co-Players of the Year if there was a tie in voting). Beginning with the 2011 season, the award began recognizing Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year.
Tyler beat out Harvard linebacker Jordan Hill for the defensive honor. Brown quarterback EJ Perry won the offensive award. He is the 12th winner in Princeton history and first defensive recipient since Mike Zeuli in 2014.
“It’s always been family,” Tyler said. “You argue with your family, you face adversity with your family, but you know, at the end of the day, you’re family. That’s
what bonded us together. The hard work that we put into this game and the
struggles you go through, it we know we have each others’ just brought you closer together. back.” When we hit a wall,