CHICAGO – HBU linebacker Rodney Dansby and wide receiver/returner Tyson Thompson are among the 23 finalists for the 2021 Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award, which honors the national freshman player of the year in the NCAA Division I Football Championships Subdivision. The Huskies are the only program with two finalists.
 
Dansby leads the Southland Conference and is tied for second nationally with 11.9 tackles per game. The Houston Bellaire High School product totaled 131 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups, one quarterback hurry, a fumble forced and a fumble recovered. He recorded double-digit tackles seven times, including each of the last six games, and averaged 14.25 tackles per game in conference play. Dansby tied the school record with 19 stops at 22^nd-ranked Southeastern on Oct. 16 and made 18 tackles in the season finale against 18^th-ranked UIW on Nov. 20. An HBU linebacker has now led the league in tackles per game for six-straight seasons.
 
Thompson ranks second in the nation with 963 combined kick return yards and fourth with 152.5 all-purpose yards per game. The Spring, Texas, native led the Huskies with 57 catches for 562 yards and two touchdowns, ranked second in the Southland Conference with a 9.9-yard average on 11 punt returns and also ranked second in the league with a 25.88-yard average on 33 kickoff returns. Thompson returned a punt 44 yards for a touchdown in the opener against New Mexico and returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown against Nicholls on Oct. 23. He was named Southland Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 25.
 
A 50-member national media panel will select the Rice Award winner, who will be announced on Dec. 13.