2011 Davey O'Brien Watch List

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2011

FORT WORTH, Texas - The Davey O'Brien Foundation announced the 2011 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award® (The O'Brien) Watch List today.  

This year's list, which was compiled by a subset of The O'Brien National Selection Committee, features 38 of the nation's top collegiate quarterbacks who were selected based on player performance during the previous year and expectations heading into the 2011 college football season. 

In addition to last season's finalists, Andrew Luck (Stanford) and Kellen Moore (Boise State), 2009 O'Brien finalist Case Keenum (Houston) is back in the action. This year's list also includes seven 2010 semifinalists: Matt Barkley (USC), Kirk Cousins (Michigan State), Robert Griffin III (Baylor), Landry Jones (Oklahoma), Taylor Martinez (Nebraska), Denard Robinson (Michigan), and Darron Thomas (Oregon).

Appearing on the Watch List is not a requirement for a player to be awarded The O'Brien. Quarterbacks from all 120 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools are eligible for the award until the field is narrowed to 16 semifinalists on Monday, Oct. 24. The Foundation and the Selection Committee will announce three finalists on Monday, Nov. 21. The 2011 Davey O'Brien winner will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, Dec. 8.

The 35th Annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner will be held Feb. 20, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas.

2011 Davey O'Brien Watch List

Matt Barkley, USC, Pac-12
Tyler Bray, Tennessee, SEC
Alex Carder, Western Michigan, MAC
Zach Collaros, Cincinnati, Big East
Kirk Cousins, Michigan State, Big Ten
Dayne Crist, Notre Dame, Independent
Austin Davis, Southern Miss, C-USA
Dominique Davis, East Carolina, C-USA
Nick Foles, Arizona, Pac-12
Jeff Godfrey, UCF, C-USA
Robert Griffin III, Baylor, Big 12
Chandler Harnish, Northern Illinois, MAC
Jake Heaps, BYU, Independent
Landry Jones, Oklahoma, Big 12
Case Keenum, Houston, C-USA
G.J. Kinne, Tulsa, C-USA
Ryan Lindley, San Diego State, MWC
Andrew Luck, Stanford, Pac-12
EJ Manuel, Florida State, ACC
Taylor Martinez, Nebraska, Big Ten
Bryant Moniz, Hawaii, WAC
Kellen Moore, Boise State, MWC
Aaron Murray, Georgia, SEC
Danny O'Brien, Maryland, ACC
Kyle Padron, SMU, C-USA
Dan Persa, Northwestern, Big Ten
Chris Relf, Mississippi State, SEC
Sean Renfree, Duke, ACC
Corey Robinson, Troy, Sun Belt
Denard Robinson, Michigan, Big Ten
Nathan Scheelhaase, Illinois, Big Ten
Geno Smith, West Virginia, Big East
Tino Sunseri, Pittsburgh, Big East
Ryan Tannehill, Texas A&M, Big 12
Darron Thomas, Oregon, Pac-12
Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State, Big 12
Russell Wilson, Wisconsin, Big Ten
Jordan Wynn, Utah, Pac-12

About the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award®

The Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award® (The O'Brien) is presented annually to the nation's best college quarterback and is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award. The O'Brien honors candidates who exemplify Davey O'Brien's enduring character while exhibiting teamwork, sportsmanship and leadership in both academics and athletics. The O'Brien is overseen by the Davey O'Brien Foundation, which is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, and has given away more than $825,000 in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life. For more information, visit http://www.daveyobrien.org/.

American Airlines is the official travel partner of The O'Brien
 
National College Football Awards Association
The O'Brien 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 Web site, http://www.ncfaa.org/. 

The members of the NCFAA are unveiling their preseason watch lists over a 13-day period this
 month. Fifteen of the association's 21 awards select a preseason watch list and this is the first time the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award's preseason candidates. Following is the remaining 2011 preseason watch list calendar.

Friday, July 15: Davey O'Brien Award/Doak Walker Award
Monday, July 18: Walter Camp Award

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Ken Dorsey Heading to a Sideline Near You

Image via Wikipedia

Everyone knows the NFL is a copy cat league, with teams always looking for the next great offensive mind to run the show for them.  You only have to look at this off-season for the most recent examples, in San Francisco they hired former NFL quarterback  and Stanford Head Coach, Jim Harbaugh, to take over or in Dallas where Jason Garrett, another former NFL quarterback, was given the head coaching job on a full time basis.    In fact if you look around the league you will find countless cases of coaches whose physical talents paled in comparison to their football IQs.  Coaches such as Sean Payton, Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren, Gary Kubiak, Chan Gailey, and Norv Turner where all college quarterbacks who paid their dues in the coaching ranks and now run their own teams and in the case of Holmgren control the whole franchise. 

Who will be the next great offensive mind that NFL teams will be lining up to employ in the next five to seven years? If I were a betting man I would take Ken Dorsey in a heartbeat.  Ken was a maestro at the University of Miami where he led arguably the most talented offensive roster in the past 15 years.   At Miami, Dorsey was 38-2 and was known as a coach on the field commanding the respect from such future NFL superstars like Willis McGahee, Kellen Winslow II, Jeremy Shockey, Clinton Portis,  Andre Johnson and Frank Gore.     Ken was able to run that offense with precision of a surgeon even though he lacked the physical skills to match his understanding of the game plan.   Ken,  who played for the 49’ers and Browns in the NFL and Toronto in the CFL,  is officially retired and working as an offensive coordinator at Riverview High in Florida and as quarterbacks coach at IMG Madden Football Academy in Florida.  He is just waiting for the right opportunity to open up to make that next step in his career.   

It is only a matter of time until Ken (who is only 30) moves up the coaching ranks maybe at the University of North Carolina, with his former head coach, Butch Davis, or on the staff of another former head coach, Larry Coker, at the University of Texas at San Antonio, regardless where he lands one thing is for sure that once he starts working in college a meteoric rise is likely to follow.     With a little seasoning in the college coaching ranks,  Dorsey would likely have the resume to catch the eye of some top NFL franchises such as the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, or Baltimore Ravens .   An ideal situation might be developing in New England with Ryan Mallett,  as it will be a few years before Mallett is ready to push for playing time, but when he is ready having a guy like Ken on staff to mentor the young quarterback makes  a ton of sense to me.  If Ken Dorsey was a stock I would say it’s a heavy buy for any team’s portfolio as all signs point to one of the next great offensive mind.        

2011 JOHN MACKEY AWARD PRESEASON WATCH LIST

Bethpage, N.Y. (July 6, 2011) - The 2011 John Mackey Award preseason watch list has been released by the Nassau County Sports Commission.  Given annually to the best collegiate tight end, the award recipient is selected by vote of the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. The 2011 John Mackey winner will be presented live at the Home Depot ESPN College Football Awards Red Carpet Show on December 8, 2011 at 6pm EST on ESPNU.  NFL Hall of Fame member John Mackey is considered to be the best to have played the tight end position.  A tight end by whom all others are measured, Mackey was a role model on and off the field as demonstrated by his Super Bowl Championship, his commitment to community and his place in history as the first President of the NFLPA. The John Mackey Award presented since 2000, lists ten NFL players as alumni: Dallas Clark ('01) of the 2006 Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts, two-time Super Bowl Champion Daniel Graham ('02), Kellen Winslow II ('03) of the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, two-time Super Bowl Champion Heath Miller ('04) of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Marcedes Lewis ('05) of the Jacksonville Jaguars, 2008 Super Bowl Champion Matt Spaeth ('06), Fred Davis ('07) of the Washington Redskins, Chase Coffman ('08) of the Cincinnati Bengals, Aaron Hernandez ('09) of the New England Patriots and the 2010 John Mackey Award recipient D.J. Williams of the Green Bay Packers.                      2011 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List

The Nassau County Sports Commission, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization sponsored by Briarcliffe College, is responsible for the administration of the John Mackey Award and the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. For additional information, please visit www.nassausports.org. .   National College Football Awards Association The John Mackey Award 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 websitewww.ncfaa.org.

Four Downs with NY Jets--Lorenzo Washington

As we all sit patiently waiting for this lockout to end, I decided to reach out to some players and see how they are all handling the lockout. While football is a passion for us it’s their profession and I can’t imagine being kept from working. The first player to check in with me was big Lorenzo Washington from the NY Jets. Lorenzo gives us a little of what the players are going through while they wait to get back to work.

1st Down….How different has this off-season been compared to any other off-season you’ve experienced?

L.W: The biggest difference is just not being able to be coached and do OTA's. As an athlete I’m always working out and staying in shape but because of the lockout we all have not done any football since January.

2nd Down….Besides staying in shape, what else have you done of note in this extended off season?
LW: I looked at my weaknesses and tried to focus on making those areas a strength. Also staying mentally focused during the lockout was an important thing for me because you have to look at the offseason like it’s a marathon not a sprint. I made changes in my diet, my activities off the field, conditioning, etc. I wanted to make sure when the lockout ends I will be at my best to impress the coaches. So I tried to make this offseason just like I would during any other, just more time to recover and stay healthy and less time with teammates and coaches

3rd Down…What are you looking forward to most this season?
LW: I just look forward to putting on the pads and getting after it. There is nothing like the camaraderie you have with your teammates when you get ready to play a game knowing all the blood sweat and hard work everyone has put into trying to go win the game

4th Down….What advice would you give someone in the NBA as they prepare for their own lockout?
LW: Make sure you have a plan in place for at least 6 months. Financially and for how you will train and stick to those routines for the duration of the lockout. Treat the off-season like any other off-season even though you can’t use your team facilities

Bonus….Anything you want to say to the football fans that have been waiting patiently for the game they love to return?
LW: This lockout is not about the money to the players. We just want to play and have a fair set of rules for everyone to abide by.

If any player wants to contact me to 4 Downs with me feel free to email and we can set something up.