Charles, Butler earn All-America honors

ATHENS -- Another round of postseason individual awards has arrived for the Georgia football team.

Freshman tight end Orson Charles was one of five Southeastern Conference players who were named to the Sporting News Freshman All-America Team. Starting a pair of games for Georgia, Charles is third on the team with 21 catches for 366 yards receiving and three touchdowns. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Tampa, Fla., native had a career-high four catches for 73 yards versus Kentucky and has a long reception of 44 yards at Arkansas this year.

Charles also joined freshman defensive end Montez Robinson on the Sporting News' All-Freshman SEC Team. Robinson played in 11 games for the Bulldogs in 2009. The 6-5, 250-pound native of Avon, Ind., was named the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week after recording a career-high five tackles, including two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss, during Georgia's 38-0 shutout of Tennessee Tech.

On Tuesday, redshirt sophomore punter Drew Butler was named to the Associated Press All-America First Team.

A native of Duluth, Butler leads the nation in punting with a 48.8 average on 50 punts and in net punting at 42.8 yards per punt. On Dec. 10, he was named winner of the Ray Guy Award as the nation's top punter. Butler is the first Bulldog since Max Jean-Gilles in 2005 to earn AP All-America honors. He is among 11 SEC players named to the First Team.

Butler has also been named to the Sporting News, Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Walter Camp and the American Football Coaches (AFCA) All-America teams.

The Southern Pigskin 2009 All South Football Team was also announced on Tuesday and featured three Georgia players -- sophomore flanker A.J. Green, junior linebacker Rennie Curran and Butler. Although limited to only nine games of action due to injuries, Green is tied for the SEC lead in receptions per game (5.2) and is holding down the No. 2 spot in the league in receiving yards per game (83.4). Green has 751 yards receiving and six touchdowns in 2009 and is expected to return to the Bulldog lineup in the Independence Bowl versus Texas A&M on Dec. 28.

Curran was also named to the All South Football Team after leading the conference in tackles (122) through 12 games (10.2 tackles per game). Curran has led his team in tackles 11 out of 12 games this year and is the first Bulldog since Greg Bright in 1996-97 to have more than 100 tackles in back-to-back seasons.