Leak Named To Maxwell Trophy Watch List; Four Gators Named To Bednarik Award Watch List
Tuesday, June 13, 2006 | Football
University of Florida senior quarterback Chris Leak was named to the 2006 watch list for the 70th Maxwell Award for the Collegiate Player of the Year while senior linebacker Earl Everett, junior safety Reggie Nelson, junior linebacker Brandon Siler and senior defensive tackle Marcus Thomas were all named to the watch list for the 12th Chuck Bednarik Award for the Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday.
The lists were announced by Maxwell Football Club President, Ron Jaworski and include a field of sixty candidates for each of these awards as selected by the Maxwell Football Club Advisory Committee. Additions and subtractions to the lists, based on player performance, will be made through out the 2006 football season.
Leak has been a three-year starter at quarterback for the Gators who has played in all 37 games of his career with 33-straight starts. He is 22-11 as a starter and ranks ranks fourth on the all-time UF lists in yards passing (8,271), completions (663) and fifth in attempts (1,023). In 2005, he joined Danny Wuerffel as the only quarterbacks in school history to beat four top-10 teams away from Gainesville (at LSU, at Florida State and vs. Georgia in Jacksonville twice)
Everett has seen action in 36 games including 29 starts. He finished the 2005 campaign with 72 tackles to lead the team. He has been named to the watch list for the second straight season.
Nelson, who transferred to Florida in January of 2005, saw action in 11 regular season games with four starts (Georgia, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Florida State). He was one of eight Gators to break the 40-tackle mark on the season, 32 of his 46 total tackles on the season were solo efforts. He also finished second on the team with four quarterback sacks, for a net loss of 32 yards.
Siler finished the 2005 season second on the team in tackles with 64, one of four Gators to break the 60-tackle barrier, including 33 solo and 31 assisted efforts. He also paced the team with seven quarterback hurries, and seven recovered fumbles
Thomas has seen action in 36 games with 26 starts at defensive tackle. Last season, he finished with 45 tackles, including 10.5 for a net loss of 34 yards, as well as four quarterback sacks for a net loss of 20 yards. He also blocked a field goal in the second quarter of the Florida State game that was returned 54 yards for a touchdown.
Players selected to these initial watch lists have distinguished themselves as All Conference or All American selections from their respective universities in past years. Underclassmen are selected based on recommendations from the Maxwell Football Club Advisory Committee.
The Maxwell and Bednarik Award Watch Lists have been created as a reference to provide additional assistance to eligible voters and to the media when evaluating potential candidates for these awards. The watch lists are not intended to represent an all-inclusive listing of candidates for the collegiate awards presented by the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order with the player's position, class and university noted.
Twelve semifinalists for each award will be announced in October and the field will be trimmed to three finalists in November. The winners of the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will be announced at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show that will be broadcast on ESPN in December. The formal presentation of the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will take place at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Banquet in March 2007.
All questions or concerning these Watch Lists or the awards presented by the Maxwell Football Club can be directed to Mr. Robert Clark (Maxwell Football Club Executive Director) bobclark@maxwellfootballclub.org, or to Mr. Mark Wolpert (Sr. Vice President Collegiate Awards) mwolpert@maxwellfootballclub.org.
| 2006 Maxwell Award Watch List | |||
| PLAYER NAME | UNIVERSITY | POSITION | CLASS |
| Ainge, Erik | University of Tennessee | QB | JR |
| Bomar, Rhett | University of Oklahoma | QB | Soph |
| Booker, Lorenzo | Florida State University | RB | SR |
| Booty, John David | University of Southern California | QB | JR |
| Breaston, Steve | University of Michigan | WR | SR |
| Brennan, Colt | University of Hawaii | QB | JR |
| Brohm, Brian | Louisville | QB | JR |
| Brown, Thomas | University of Georgia | RB | JR |
| Bush, Michael | Louisville | RB | SR |
| Charles, Jamaal | University of Texas | RB | Soph |
| Cox, Brandon | Auburn University | QB | JR |
| Darby, Ken | University of Alabama | RB | SR |
| Davis, James | Clemson University | RB | Soph |
| Ginn, Ted | Ohio State University | WR/Ath | JR |
| Green-Ellis, BenJarvus | University of Mississippi | RB | JR |
| Hamilton, Lynell | San Diego State University | RB | SR |
| Harris, Clark | Rutgers University | TE | SR |
| Hart, Michael | University of Michigan | RB | JR |
| Henne, Chad | University of Michigan | QB | JR |
| Hollenbach, Sam | University of Maryland | QB | SR |
| Irons, Kenny | Auburn University | RB | SR |
| Jarrett, Dwayne | University of Southern California | WR | JR |
| Johnson, Calvin | Georgia Tech | WR | JR |
| Kolb, Kevin | University of Houston | QB | SR |
| Leak, Chris | University of Florida | QB | SR |
| Leonard, Brian | Rutgers University | FB | SR |
| Little, Rafael | University of Kentucky | RB | JR |
| Lynch, Marshawn | University of California | RB | JR |
| McFadden, Darren | University of Arkansas | RB | Soph |
| Meyer, Bret | Iowa State University | QB | JR |
| Miller, Zach | Arizona State University | TE | JR |
| Mitchell, Blake | University of South Carolina | QB | JR |
| Moss, Tyrone | University of Miami | RB | SR |
| Olsen, Greg | University of Miami | TE | JR |
| Olson, Ben | UCLA | QB | Soph |
| Palko, Tyler | University of Pittsburgh | QB | SR |
| Palmer, Jordan | UTEP | QB | SR |
| Peterson, Adrian | University of Oklahoma | RB | JR |
| Pittman, Antonio | Ohio State University | RB | JR |
| Quinn, Brady | Notre Dame | QB | SR |
| Rice, Sidney | University of South Carolina | WR | Soph |
| Russell, Jamarcus | Louisiana State University | QB | JR |
| Samardzija, Jeff | Notre Dame | WR | SR |
| Slaton, Steve | West Virginia University | RB | Soph |
| Smith, Steve | University of Southern California | WR | SR |
| Smith, Troy | Ohio State University | QB | SR |
| Stanton, Drew | Michigan State University | QB | SR |
| Stocco, John | University of Wisconsin | QB | SR |
| Sutton, Tyrell | Northwestern | RB | Soph |
| Tate, Drew | University of Iowa | QB | SR |
| Taylor, Zac | University of Nebraska | QB | SR |
| Thomas, Jamario | North Texas | RB | JR |
| Walker, Darius | Notre Dame | RB | JR |
| Weatherford, Drew | Florida State University | QB | Soph |
| White, Pat | West Virginia University | QB | Soph |
| Williams, Derek | Penn State University | WR/Ath | Soph |
| Wolfe, Garrett | Northern Illinois | RB | SR |
| Wright, Kyle | University of Miami | QB | JR |
| Young, Albert | University of Iowa | RB | JR |
| Zabransky, Jared | Boise State University | QB | SR |
| 2006 Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List | |||
| PLAYER NAME | UNIVERSITY | POSITION | CLASS |
| Abbate, Jonathon | Wake Forrest | LB | JR |
| Adams, Gaines | Clemson University | DE | SR |
| Adibi, Xavier | Virginia Tech | LB | JR |
| Ah You, C.J. | University of Oklahoma | DE | SR |
| Alexander, Rufus | University of Oklahoma | LB | SR |
| Battle, Tra | University of Georgia | DB | SR |
| Bazuin, Daniel | Central Michigan University | DE | SR |
| Blades, H.B. | University of Pittsburgh | LB | SR |
| Blake, Tommy | Texas Christian University | DE | JR |
| Brown, Kareem | University of Miami | DL | SR |
| Brown, Kevin | UCLA | DL | SR |
| Bruce, Mkristo | Washington State University | DE | SR |
| Bryant, Red | Texas A&M University | DT | JR |
| Bunting, Nick | University of Tulsa | LB | JR |
| Burgess, Prescott | University of Michigan | LB | SR |
| Caldwell, Rob | U.S. Naval Academy | LB | SR |
| Carriker, Adam | University of Nebraska | DE | SR |
| Cason, Antoine | University of Arizona | DB | JR |
| Connor, Dan | Penn State University | LB | JR |
| Crowder, Tim | University of Texas | DE | SR |
| Cushing, Brian | University of Southern California | LB | Soph |
| Davis, Buster | Florida State University | LB | SR |
| Everett, Earl | University of Florida | LB | SR |
| Griffin, Michael | University of Texas | DB | SR |
| Groves, Quinton | Auburn University | DE | JR |
| Hall, Korey | Boise State | LB | SR |
| Hall, Vince | Virginia Tech | LB | JR |
| Harrell, Justin | University of Tennessee | DL | SR |
| Herring, Will | Auburn University | LB | SR |
| Highsmith, Ali | LSU | LB | JR |
| Howard, Loren | Arizona State University | DE | SR |
| Hughes, Daymeion | University of California | DB | SR |
| Jackson, Lawrence | University of Southern California | DE | JR |
| Landry, La Ron | LSU | DB | SR |
| Lua, Oscar | University of Southern California | LB | SR |
| McKeon, Corey | University of Nebraska | LB | JR |
| McLee, Kevin | West Virginia University | LB | SR |
| McSwain, Larry | UAB | DE | SR |
| Mebane, Brandon | University of California | DL | SR |
| Meriweather, Brandon | University of Miami | DB | SR |
| Moses, Quentin | University of Georgia | DE | SR |
| Nelson, Reggie | University of Florida | S | JR |
| Okam, Frank | University of Texas | DT | JR |
| Olajubutu, Sam | University of Arkansas | LB | SR |
| Phillips, Kenny | University of Miami | DB | Soph |
| Pitcock, Quinn | Ohio State University | DL | SR |
| Posluszny, Paul | Penn State University | LB | SR |
| Pressley, DeMario | North Carolina State University | DL | Soph |
| Rivers, Keith | University of Southern California | LB | JR |
| Shaw, Tim | Penn State University | LB | SR |
| Siler, Brandon | University of Florida | LB | JR |
| Taylor, Tony | University of Georgia | LB | SR |
| Thomas, Marcus | University of Florida | DT | SR |
| Toal, Brian | Boston College | LB | JR |
| Walters, Anthony | Clemson University | LB | SR |
| Warren, Justin | Texas A&M University | LB | SR |
| Weddle, Eric | University of Utah | DB | SR |
| Willis, Patrick | University of Mississippi | LB | SR |
| Woodley, LaMarr | University of Michigan | DE | SR |
| Zbikowski, Tom | Notre Dame | DB | SR |
