For former Georgia offensive lineman Matt Stinchcomb, receiving positive recognition is nothing new.

He was a two-time First-Team Academic All-American, was the nation’s Academic All-American of the Year in 1998 and was named to the American Football Coaches Good Works Team in 1997 and ’98 for his charitable actions in the community.

He was also pretty good on the football field, too, as he was a consensus First-Team All-American in ’97 and ’98, a finalist for the Lombardi Trophy (the nations top lineman) and a first round draft pick by the Oakland Raiders in the 1999 NFL entry draft.

Today, Stinchcomb will be honored once again, as one of four former UGA athletes being inducted into the University of Georgia Circle of Honor.

“It’s an unexpected [honor] and one that means a great deal,” Stinchcomb said. “Largely, the definition of the distinction is meaningful, but, looking at the group of individuals they have recognized in the past, to be included somehow in that list of names … is a tremendous honor and one that I didn’t necessarily foresee.”

Although Stinchcomb’s career on the field is now over, his charitable career is still going strong. Along with his brother Jon – another former UGA lineman – he created the Stinchcomb Family Foundation, which in its four years of existence has raised more than $600,000 to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the Georgia Transplant Foundation, the Children’s Tumor Foundation and the University of Georgia College of Education.

“It’s important to give back because you can and because it’s needed, which is the unfortunate part,” Stinchcomb said. “[Giving back is] necessary and needed, sometimes a lot now more than ever, given where we are economically …. The needs of these charities are not subject to recessions. People are going to need organ transplants; whether the stock market is riding the wave or getting crushed by the wave, it just doesn’t matter.

“You don’t have to look very long or very hard to see that the groups we participate in and support affected just about everybody’s life.”