Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Tyler Needham Earns Honors on and off the Football Field

Fifth-year senior offensive lineman Tyler Needham has some impressive stats both on and off the field.

In 2024, Needham played in 11 games with 10 starts and helped the Scarlet Knights to a 28.9 points per game average, the best mark since 2008, and 4,975 yards of total offense, fourth-most in a season in program history. In addition, the team rushed for 175.3 yards per game to place third in the Big Ten for the program’s best placement since joining the league.

But there is another number that sets Needham apart on the team. He is one of 10 Rutgers football players named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and is the lone gridder to earn a 4.0 grade point average. Needham is among a total of 132 Rutgers student-athletes earned the distinction, with 33 achieving a perfect 4.0 GPA. 

The award recognizes academic excellence and achievement in the classroom and is given to student-athletes who have earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition and have a minimum GPA of 3.70, putting a spotlight on some of the top performing students on the playing field and in the classroom. 

Balancing and blending schoolwork with football responsibilities is job one for any football player who competes for head coach Greg Schiano. Asked what first comes to mind when playing for a coaching staff headed by Schiano, the Newtown, Pa. native responded with one word.

“Intentional. Everything we do is intentional and with a purpose,” he said. “I mean, if you come to work every day and have that approach with everything, you’re going to be a better player and a better person. It sounds simple, but that’s really it.”

This past January, Needham, a three-time member of the Academic All-Big Ten Team, earned his bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in sport management. He studied labor relations this past spring and this academic year will pursue a master's degree in supply chain management at Rutgers Business School.

Needham's favorite class during his Rutgers tenure was “Professional Presentations in Sport Management,” a course that covers public speaking and the presentation of sports events, taught by Joe Schilp, an adjunct professor in the department of Kinesiology and Health. Needham’s recent Big Ten academic honor comes as no surprise to Schilp.

“It was a pleasure having Ty as a student,” he said. “He's a very bright and engaging young man with a good sense of humor who regularly participated in class.  We often chatted before and after class about sports, career paths, and his future.  I am sure he'll be successful in anything he does because he's really driven to succeed, so his achieving Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honor comes as no surprise.”

Needham’s recruitment took place shortly after the Covid outbreak thus he didn’t take his maximum limit of five official vistis. According to Needham, he wouldn’t have needed to see any other schools anyway because once he set foot on the Rutgers campus, the process was all but complete.

“I think the people make the place,” he said. “Coming here, I felt just like I was home. We always talk about family here and that really spoke volumes when I got here.”

The 6-5, 310-pound Needham has aspirations of continuing his career in the NFL and is pointing towards a career in law enforcement once his playing days come to an end. Needham views his duties of an offensive lineman as being a protector.

“Most of my life has been in service as a protector,” he said. “And when I think of protecting people, law enforcement, secret service, FBI – things of that nature come to mind.”

In 2024, Needham was rated as the No. 15 offensive tackle in the Big Ten by Pro Football Focus. The Rutgers offense permitted two or less sacks in 9-of-13 games with none allowed five times and converted on third down at a clip of 44 percent, the team’s best mark in the Big Ten era. The team also ranked No. 21 nationally with just 4.38 tackles-for-loss permitted per game

During his career, Needham has overcome an assortment of injuries in each of the last two seasons. Throughout his arduous physical rehab assignments, Needham came to appreciate the overall support, thoroughness, and care that football players receive at Rutgers.

“You’ve got to understand that the people in there helping you out, they have your best interests in their minds. So, really it’s just a matter of trusting them and letting them go to work and you’re just doing what you’re told and can’t go wrong,” Needham said. “They’re outstanding. They really do everything they can to help you and get you back on the field 100 percent. 

“It’s probably the best care you can get in the country. The mental component is probably the toughest part to overcome. I mean, we’re kind of used to the physical part with your body taking a beating. It’s a little bit different when you’re in the rehab room. Your body, it’s still going to hurt while you’re doing rehab.

“So I’d say the medical care plus all of the academic tutoring we receive throughout the year are just two of the major things that standout out to me here at Rutgers,” he added. “There are too many medical and academic people to mention, but they’re all outstanding and my teammates and I really appreciate them all.”

“Like I said earlier, it’s the people. The people make the place,” Needham added.

Rutgers Football Big Ten Distinguished Scholars 

• Djibril Abdou Rahman      
• DJ Allen      
• Joe De Croce
• Moses Gbagbe-Sowah    
• Kyonte Hamilton  
• Nelson Monegro Breton
• Tyler Needham      
• Nick Oliveira
• Terrence Salami    
• Reggie Sutton