May 12, 2008

Dallas, TX - Florida State defensive end Everette Brown and rover Myron Rolle have been named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list, given to the best defensive player in college football. This is the first national award watch list for Brown and the second for Rolle. Last month Rolle was one of 42 collegiate players on the initial watch list for the 2008 Lott Trophy.

 

Brown was Florida State's starter at the left defensive end position where he earned a career-high eight starting assignments in 2007 and he has played in 26 consecutive games in his first two seasons as a Seminole. Last season the North Carolina native led the team in sacks, led all defensive linemen in tackles and tackles for loss. Brown totaled a single-season career-high 37 tackles, a single-season career-high six and a half quarterback sacks and 11.5 tackles for minus yardage.

 

In his first season as a starter Brown more than doubled his sack total from his freshman season. The speed rush end now has 25 career tackles for minus yardage to rank 15th in school history with two seasons remaining in his collegiate playing career. He has tackles for minus yardage in 15 of his 26 career games and Brown has more career tackles for loss than any current Seminole.  Brown already has 9.5 quarterback sacks in his first two seasons and will undoubtedly move into Florida State's all-time top-10 for career sacks before his career in Tallahassee is over.

 

Rolle, a rising junior, started all 13 games for the Seminoles in 2007 and has started 23 consecutive games entering the 2008 season. Rolle was one of only five Seminole players on the defensive side of the ball who started at the same position in all 13 regular season games. He was fourth on the team in tackles with 67 and has 144 total tackles in the first two seasons of his career. Last year he set his single-season career-high with 36 unassisted tackles.

 

The New Jersey native recorded at least five tackles in nine of his 13 games played and he was tied for third on the team with eight tackles in the Music City Bowl. In that bowl game, Rolle forced the first fumble of his career and it was returned for 52 yards by Tony Carter and set up an FSU TD, which tied the game at 14-14.

 

The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) All-America Committee selects the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner from the association's 11-man All-America defensive team in November. The watch list was developed by the FWAA All-America committee with the help of the schools and conferences.

 

The Charlotte Touchdown Club will hold the 2008 banquet on Sunday, Dec. 7, at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte. For the eighth straight season, the FWAA will also pick a Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week beginning with games on Aug. 30 and running through the middle of November. And a Bronko Nagurski Legends Award winner will also be selected from the FWAA's 1967 All-America team.

 

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been presented since 1993 and is awarded in memory of the legendary Nagurski, a former All-America lineman at Minnesota in 1927-29 and a star for professional football's Chicago Bears in the 1930s.

 

The 2007 Nagurski Trophy winner, LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, was selected No. 5 overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2008 NFL Draft. The two other 2007 Nagurski finalists also fared well in the NFL Draft: Virginia end Chris Long went No. 2 overall to the St. Louis Rams and Kansas defensive back Aqib Talib was the No. 20 overall selection by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

 

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.

 

For more information on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, contact FWAA executive director Steve Richardson (972-713-6198 or tigerfwaa@aol.com).

 

2008 BRONKO NAGURSKI TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST

Geno Atkins, DT, Georgia

Malcom Jenkins, DB, Ohio State

Antonio Baker, DB, Louisiana Tech

Peria Jerry, DT, Ole Miss

Darry Beckwith, MLB, LSU

Rashad Johnson, DB, Alabama

Ted Bentler,DL, Army

Arthur Jones, DT, Syracuse

Eric Berry, DB, Tennessee

Jan Jorgensen, DL, BYU

Dirayl Briggs, DE, Bowling

Green Frantz Joseph, LB, Florida Atlantic

Everette Brown, DL, Florida State

Mitch King, DT, Iowa

David Bruton, FS Notre Dame

James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio State

Joe Burnett, DB, UCF

Trevard Lindley, CB, Kentucky

Terrill Byrd, DT, Cincinnati

Sen'Derrick Marks, DT, Auburn

Ian Campbell, DE, Kansas State

Rey Maualuga, LB, USC

Reggie Carter, LB UCLA

Taylor Mays, S, USC

Jamar Chaney, LB Mississippi State

Albert McClellan, DE, Marshall

Patrick Chung, DB, Oregon

Scott McKillop, LB, Pittsburgh

Barry Church, S, Toledo

Gerald McRath, LB, Southern Miss

Antonio Coleman, DE Auburn

Mike Mickens, CB, Cincinnati

Emanuel Cook, SS, South Carolina

Greg Middleton, DE, Indiana

Maurice Crum, LB, Notre Dame

Fili Moala, DT, USC

Jermaine Cunningham, DL, Florida

William Moore, S, Missouri

Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest

DJ Moore, CB, Vanderbilt

Brian Cushing, LB, USC

Joe Mortensen, LB, Kansas

Dexter Davis, DE, Arizona State

Clayton Mullins, LB, Miami (Ohio)

Vontae Davis, DB, Illinois

Captain Munnerlyn, DB, South Carolina

Wil Dunbar, FS, UAB

Andre Neblett, DT, Temple

Solomin Elimimian, LB, Hawaii

Troy Nolan, DB, Arizona State

Dannell Ellerbe, LB, Georgia

Eric Norwood, DE, South Carolina

Kevin Ellison, DB, USC

Vince Oghobaase, DT, Duke

Auston English, DE, Oklahoma

Jeff Owens, DT, Georgia

Larry English, DE, Northern Illinois

Derek Pegues, DB, Mississippi State

Maurice Evans, DE, Penn State

Dave Philistin, LB, Maryland

Zack Follett, LB, California

Nick Reed, DE, Oregon

Marcus Freeman, LB, Ohio State

Myron Rolle, DB, Florida State

Londen Fryar, DB, Western Michigan

George Selvie, DE, South Florida

John Gill, DT, Northwestern

Matt Shaughnessy, DE, Wisconsin

DeMarcus Granger, DT, Oklahoma

Clint Sintim, LB, Virginia

Courtney Greene, S, Rutgers

Alphonso Smith, DB, Wake Forest

Michael Hamlin, DB, Clemson

D'Anthony Smith, DT, Louisiana Tech

Greg Hardy, DE, Mississippi

Clinton Snyder, LB, Stanford

Nic Harris, DB, Oklahoma

Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida

Victor Harris, DB, Virginia Tech

Terrance Taylor, DT, Michigan

Daniel Holtzclaw, LB, Eastern Michigan

Brian Toal, LB, Boston College

Phillip Hunt, DE, Houston

Sean Weatherspoon, LB, Missouri

George Hypolite, DT, Colorado

Kyle Wilson, CB, Boise State

Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU

DeAndre Wright, DB, New Mexico