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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Hardy Among Candidates For Nagurski Trophy
8/18/2009 | Football
DALLAS - Ole Miss' Greg Hardy is among 62 players selected to the 2009 Bronko Nagurski Watch List, announced today by the FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is awarded annually to the nation's best defensive player by the FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club. The trophy has been presented since 1993 and is awarded in memory of the legendary Nagurski, an All-America lineman at Minnesota in 1927-29 and a star for professional football's Chicago Bears in the 1930s.
A two-time All-American from Millington, Tenn., Hardy also made the watch lists for the Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award and Chuck Bednarik Defensive Player of the Year Award. The senior boasts 32.5 career TFLs and 21.5 sacks, including an SEC-best 10.0 in 2007.
The Bronko Nagurski Watch List is fluid. Players may be added or removed during the season. After the first four games of the season, the FWAA will revise the list and at that time school sports information directors may submit names for players not on the list to the FWAA and their conference's FWAA All-America Committee representative.Each week during the 2009 season, the FWAA will choose a Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week. If the selected player is not on the watch list, he automatically will be added. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy on November 18 or 19.
The annual Bronko Nagurski Trophy Banquet will be on Dec. 7 at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, N.C. Besides the 2009 winner being announced, the banquet will also celebrate the winner of the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award, presented by CSX Intermodal. Defensive back Roger Wehrli, a standout for the University of Missouri and the St. Louis Cardinals, is being honored from the FWAA's 1968 All-American team.
| 2009 BRONKO NAGURSKI TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST | |
| Javier Arenas, DB, Alabama | Koa Misi, DE, Utah |
| Geno Atkins, DT, Georgia | Jerome Murphy, CB, USF |
| Kevin Basped, DE, Nevada | Andre Neblett, NT, Temple |
| Jeremy Beal, DE, Oklahoma | Eric Norwood, LB, South Carolina |
| Eric Berry, DB, Tennessee | Jared Odrick, DT, Penn State |
| Navorro Bowman, LB, Penn State | Vince Oghobaase, DT, Duke |
| Morgan Burnett, DB, Georgia Tech | Jeff Owens, DT, Georgia |
| Kam Chancellor, DB, Virginia Tech | Stephen Paea, DT, Oregon State |
| Barry Church, DB, Toledo | Joe Pawelek, LB, Baylor |
| Terrence Cody, DT, Alabama | Brian Price, DT, UCLA |
| Kurt Coleman, DB, Ohio State | Boo Robinson, NG, Wake Forest |
| Antonio Coleman, DE, Auburn | George Selvie, DE, USF |
| Rennie Curran, LB, Georgia | Malcolm Sheppard, DT, Arkansas |
| Ras-I Dowling, CB, Virginia | D'Anthony Smith, DT, Louisiana Tech |
| Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida | Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida |
| Brandon Graham, DE, Michigan | Darrell Stuckey, DB, Kansas |
| Joe Haden, DB, Florida | Quan Sturdivant, LB, North Carolina |
| Greg Hardy, DE, Ole Miss | Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska |
| Jerry Hughes, DE, TCU | Syd'Quan Thompson, DB, California |
| Micah Johnson, LB, Kentucky | Walter Thurmond III, DB, Oregon |
| Greg Jones, LB, Michigan State | Torrell Troup, DT, UCF |
| Arthur Jones, DT, Syracuse | Alterraun Verner, DB, UCLA |
| Sergio Kindle, LB, Texas | T.J. Ward, DB, Oregon |
| Brandon Lang, DE, Troy | Daryl Washington, LB, TCU |
| Sean Lee, LB, Penn State | Sean Weatherspoon, LB, Missouri |
| Mark LeGree, DB, Appalachian State | Deunta Williams, FS, North Carolina |
| Myron Lewis, CB, Vanderbilt | Kyle Wilson, CB, Boise State |
| Trevard Lindley, DB, Kentucky | C.J. Wilson, DE, East Carolina |
| Taylor Mays, DB, USC | Corey Wootton, DE, Northwestern |
| Rolondo McClain, LB, Alabama | Alex Wujciak, LB, Maryland |
| Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma | Willie Young, DE, N.C. State |
| Players may be added or deleted from the list before or during the season | |
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,100 men and women across North America who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include gameday operations, major awards and its annual All-America team.
The Charlotte Touchdown Club is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 for the purpose of promoting high school, collegiate, and professional football in the Charlotte, N.C. region. The club's activities and services focus community attention on the outstanding citizenship, scholarship, sportsmanship, and leadership of area athletes and coaches. For more information, contact John Rocco (704-347-2918 or jrocco@touchdownclub.com). The official website of the Charlotte Touchdown Club is www.touchdownclub.com.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association's official website, ncfaa.org.
