Army Bowl adds five-star Texan

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The U.S. Army All American Bowl selection tour made another stop in the Lone Star State on Wednesday afternoon. This time, the ceremony was held in Whitehouse, Texas to honor wide receiver Trey Metoyer.

The 6-foot-2, 198-pound standout was honored in ceremony in front of coaches, teammates and classmates during 6th period on Wednesday. With the crown on hand, he accepted his invitation to play in prestigious event. It is an honor that Metoyer does not take lightly.

"This is a huge blessing," he said of being selected to participate in the game. "To know that I was chosen as one of the top high school football players in the whole country, that means a lot to me. I know that the United States Army takes character into choosing the teams as well and that's an even bigger honor, in my opinion."

With the game in its 11th year, it has a large number of current NFL and college stars among its alumni. Metoyer is well aware of the history.

"I watched it last year; actually I went to it last year," he said. "I've watched it for the past two or three years as well. There are some really good players that have been in there in that time. Guys that I just watched last year in person, I'm seeing them on TV now every Saturday.

"There have been a ton of guys that have played in there and have gone onto the pros. I know there are guys like Reggie Bush, (Tim) Tebow, Desean Jackson, Adrian Peterson and Vince Young that have all played in it."

He knows what it means to now be included among that group as well.

"It just shows me that if they can do it, I can do it," Metoyer said. "If they did it, I can go to the next level too. They were in my shoes not that long ago. I work hard just like them and I feel like I can get there too."

Metoyer committed to Oklahoma in March and is the second Sooner commitment to be invited to play in the contest, joining Cibolo (Texas) Steele defensive tackle Marquis Anderson. With the game set to be played in his home state, he says there is sense of pride there.

"I'm going to go there and try to represent for the state of Texas and the University of Oklahoma," he said. "There will be a lot of Texans in the crowd and we can't let them down. We're representing the country as the best of the best but we also get a chance to represent our state at home. That's really cool."

In addition to the game, Metoyer says he is looking forward to the week leading up to it as well.

"I talked to some people from last year and they said that it's fun," he said. "I'm going to go down there, have fun, play and get to know all the players. It's just going to be a lot of fun getting to hang out with those guys and practice all week against the best players in the country."

Off the field, Metoyer was one of three players who recently were given five-star status by Rivals.com. He says that was a big honor as well.

"It means a lot," he said. "I've been four stars for a long time. I really didn't think I was ever going to get to be a five-star. They put it on Rivals about two weeks ago and I saw it and just thought, 'Wow.' I don't go out and play to try and get a better ranking or anything but it's great that people see my effort and recognize it. It was a huge honor. Now I have to go out and perform like a five-star every game."

The U.S. Army All American Bowl will be played Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, and will be nationally televised by NBC.

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