Long County High School football standout Chris Stock signed a letter of intent Friday to play football with Shorter University in Rome, Ga.
Stock, who won the Mr. Long County Football award as a senior, will join a Hawks team that went 5-6 in 2010 as a member of the Mid-South Conference and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. 
As a senior, Stock showed his versatility by playing both running back and defensive end for the Blue Tide.
“Chris is an exceptional young man with clear goals and is very determined to be successful at the next level,” Long County High School Athletic Director Karen Swindell said. “He has already started his summer workouts with coach Hale, and I would rank him among the top students in regard to his character.”
Swindell said Stock’s work ethic will pay dividends at Shorter.
 “He is a student that I know will be successful at the next level, and I look for great things from him in the future,” she said. “Hopefully through his hard work, he will be an impact player at Shorter next year.”
Attending the signing were Stock’s mother and father, Kim and Adrian, along with his brother, Nick, and grandmother, Barbara Consalvi.
 “My husband and I are extremely proud of Chris. He has worked hard both on and off the football field. The coaches and staff at LCHS, and Pastor Sizemore and coach Hale of First Baptist, continue to support and encourage Christopher,” Kim Stock said. “They are truly a blessing to him and the community. Chris is a wonderful young man who will bring to Shorter his leadership qualities and dedication and desire to succeed.”
Assistant football coach Jimbo Hale also had nothing but praise for Stock.
 “Chris is a hard working kid that doesn’t complain and is extremely coachable,” Hale said. “I certainly expect to see him on the field during his time there, but either way Shorter is getting a well-rounded, humble and hard-working student athlete that will do anything the coaches ask of him. He’s going to be good for Shorter and Shorter will be good for him.”
The coach added: “Living in a world in which we are in desperate need of respectable young men, it’s good to know that there are kids like Chris out there. I have no doubt that he’s going to be a great student and football player for Shorter. More importantly, he’s going to go on to be a great daddy later in life, which is something else this world needs more of.”