The Yale football team chose defensive end Beau Palin ’14 to serve as the program’s captain in 2013, bringing to an end the team’s first season without a captain in its 140-year history.
The selection was announced at the annual team banquet in Commons on Monday, just a few days after team members cast their votes in Cambridge, Mass., the night before The Game.
“Beau Palin bleeds Yale Blue and has demonstrated exceptional leadership and motivation on and off the field,” Yale head coach Tony Reno said in an interview with Yale Athletics. “He always places the team and his teammates before himself. He is a tireless worker and is willing to raise the bar every day to achieve our goals. I am excited for Beau and for all of Yale Football.”
Palin, the first Wisconsin native to be named captain of Yale’s football team, played on defense for the first time in his collegiate career this fall and started every game as a defensive end, before making his switch at the encouragement of Reno. Though defensive ends are usually the smallest players on the D-line, the 6-foot-3-inch, 247-pound ecology and evolutionary biology major made his presence known with five sacks, 25 solo tackles and 43 tackles overall. Palin was also selected to receive the 2012 team’s “hammer” award for hardest hits.
Palin is the 136th elected Yale captain as well as the seventh straight defensive player to hold the position.