BEVO BEAT Football
Malik Jefferson could snap Texas award drought
Posted July 13th, 2016
Texas standout sophomore linebacker Malik Jefferson is drawing some buzz this summer as he accumulates preseason accolades and is being placed on All-American watch lists.
One award he’s being vetted for is the Butkus Award, a trophy named after one of the best linebackers, and best football-named people on Earth, Dick Butkus. If Jefferson wins the award, he’d be the first Longhorn to do so since Derrick Johnson was the nation’s top linebacker in 2004. He’s also being eyed for the Bednarik Award.
But it goes beyond that. He’d be just the second Longhorn player to win an individual award since 2009. Jackson Jeffcoat’s Hendricks Award in 2013 is the only award given to a Longhorn player in the 2010s.
Of course Texas ended the “oughts” in style. In 2009 Colt McCoy won (stretch typing fingers): The Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year award, the AT&T/ABC Sports National Player of the Year award, The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, the Maxwell Award, the Manning Award, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Sporting News College Athlete of the Year, NCAA Quarterback of the Year and Chic Harley Award winner. McCoy was also an All-American, All-Big 12 and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honoree.
Yeah. Colt McCoy, No. 12 retired at Texas, was pretty awesome that season. Can Malik have a “McCoy season?”
Well, he certainly isn’t the first Longhorn to receive award buzz months before the start of the season, so we shouldn’t call Dick Butkus just yet, but the award drought could be in jeopardy as Jefferson and three other sophomores were named to All-Big 12 preseason teams. In fact, with the glut of young talent on the roster, the Longhorns could be in store for another accolade filled decade.
Here’s a list of all the Texas major award winners:
The Heisman Trophy
Earl Campbell, 1977
Ricky Williams, 1998
Butkus Award
Derrick Johnson, 2004
The Dr. Pepper Doak Walker Award
Ricky Williams, 1997
Ricky Williams, 1998
Cedric Benson, 2004
Draddy/ Campbell Trophy
Dallas Griffin, 2007
Sam Acho, 2010
Hendricks Award
Brian Orakpo, 2008
Jackson Jeffcoat, 2013
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
Colt McCoy, 2009
The Lombardi Award
Kenneth Sims, 1981
Tony Degrate, 1984
Brian Orakpo, 2008
Manning Award
Vince Young, 2005
Colt McCoy, 2009
Maxwell Award
Tommy Nobis, 1965
Ricky Williams, 1998
Vince Young, 2005
Colt McCoy, 2009
Nagurski Trophy
Derrick Johnson, 2004
Brian Orakpo, 2008
Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award
Earl Campbell, 1977 (Not a typo, he was the first winner of this award)
Vince Young, 2005
Colt McCoy, 2009
The Outland Trophy
Scott Appleton, 1963
Tommy Nobis, 1965
Brad Shearer, 1977
Jim Thorpe Award
Michael Huff, 2005
Aaron Ross, 2006
The Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year
Ricky Williams, 1998
Colt McCoy, 2008
Colt McCoy. 2009
At&T/ABC Sports National Player of the Year
Cedric Benson, 2004
Vince Young, 2005
Colt McCoy, 2009
News on Bevo Beat is free and unlimited. Access to the rest of Hookem.com is included with an Austin American-Statesman subscription in addition to Statesman.com and the ePaper edition. Subscribe today at statesman.com/subscribe.
Comments