Navy Outside Linebacker Named to AFCA Good Works Team
Navy Football senior outside linebacker Xavier McDonald has been named to the 2023 Allstate American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team.
The Good Works Team honors student athletes and student support staff who make extra efforts off the field to support those in need. The team was established in 1992 by the College Football Association. In 1997 the AFCA took over as the governing body of the award.
McDonald overcame an extremely difficult upbringing himself when both his parents were simultaneously incarcerated when he was a freshman in high school, leaving him to look after his four younger siblings. McDonald took a job as a cashier at a grocery store where he would work 30-35 hours per week. He would ride his bike to work following football practice, working from 5:30pm-11pm. He would then return home to study often until 2am.
Despite the circumstances McDonald would still make his high school varsity football team and start as a sophomore. He also maintained a 3.5 GPA while in high school.
At The Naval Academy he has spent close to 50 hours engaged in community service in the past year, making several trips to the Naval Academy Primary School in Annapolis to talk to the kids about his past experience and serve as a positive role model. He also serves as a tutor at the Naval Academy in thermodynamics.
2023 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®
Football Bowl Subdivision
Tyler Batty, DE, BYU
Will Shipley, RB, Clemson
Ja’Mion Franklin, DT, Duke
Mekhi Wingo, DL, LSU
Jaylen Pate, DL, Northwestern
Xavier McDonald, LB, Navy
Matthew Cindric, OL, California
Ladd McConkey, WR, Georgia
Blake Corum, RB, Michigan
Ethan Downs, DE, Oklahoma
Gavin Bartholomew, TE, Pitt
