June 13, 2006

PHILADELPHIA - Wake Forest junior linebacker Jon Abbate was named to the 2006 watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award given to college football's Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year. The watch list includes 60 candidates as selected by the Maxwell Football Club Advisory Committee, headed by Maxwell Football Club President, Ron Jaworski.

Abbate, a native of Powder Springs, Ga., was a member of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list and earned All-ACC honorable mention as a sophomore last season. Abbate was the first player to lead the Demon Deacons in tackles in consecutive seasons since 1993-94 and the first player to ever to do as a freshman and sophomore.

In 2005, Abbate played through injuries to his hamstring, shoulder and a gashed nose. Nonetheless, he averaged 7.7 tackles per game to lead Wake Forest and rank 10th in the ACC in that category. Abbate was named Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Clemson on October 1. He had 13 tackles and two interceptions in the win against Tigers.

As a rookie, Abbate was a freshman All-American and the runner-up for ACC Rookie of the Year behind All-American receiver Calvin Johnson of Georgia Tech.

Abbate is one of six ACC linebackers, 11 players overall, to make the watch list. Of the 60 players, only 20 are underclassmen.

Twelve semifinalists for the Bednarik Award will be announced in October and the field will be trimmed to three finalists in November. The winner will be announced at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show that will be broadcast on ESPN in December. The formal presentation of the Bednarik Award will take place at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Banquet in March 2007.

2006 Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List

PLAYER 	             UNIVERSITY  POS 	CLASS
Abbate, Jon 	     Wake Forest LB 	JR
Adams, Gaines 	     Clemson 	 DE 	SR
Adibi, Xavier 	     Va Tech 	 LB 	JR
Ah You, C.J. 	     Oklahoma 	 DE 	SR
Alexander, Rufus     Oklahoma 	 LB 	SR
Battle, Tra 	     Georgia 	 DB 	SR
Bazuin, Daniel 	     C Michigan  DE 	SR
Blades, H.B. 	     Pittsburgh  LB 	SR
Blake, Tommy 	     TCU 	 DE 	JR
Brown, Kareem 	     Miami 	 DL 	SR
Brown, Kevin 	     UCLA 	 DL 	SR
Bruce, Mkristo 	     Wash State  DE 	SR
Bryant, Red 	     Texas A&M 	 DT 	JR
Bunting, Nick 	     Tulsa 	 LB 	JR
Burgess, Prescott    Michigan 	 LB 	SR
Caldwell, Rob 	     Navy	 LB 	SR
Carriker, Adam 	     Nebraska 	 DE 	SR
Cason, Antoine 	     Arizona 	 DB 	JR
Connor, Dan 	     Penn State  LB 	JR
Crowder, Tim 	     Texas 	 DE 	SR
Cushing, Brian 	     USC	 LB 	Soph
Davis, Buster 	     Florida St	 LB 	SR
Everett, Earl 	     Florida 	 LB 	SR
Griffin, Michael     Texas 	 DB 	SR
Groves, Quinton      Auburn 	 DE 	JR
Hall, Korey 	     Boise St 	 LB 	SR
Hall, Vince 	     Va Tech 	 LB 	JR
Harrell, Justin      Tennessee 	 DL 	SR
Herring, Will 	     Auburn 	 LB 	SR
Highsmith, Ali 	     LSU 	 LB 	JR
Howard, Loren 	     Arizona St	 DE 	SR
Hughes, Daymeion     California  DB 	SR
Jackson, Lawrence    USC	 DE 	JR
Landry, La Ron 	     LSU 	 DB 	SR
Lua, Oscar 	     USC	 LB 	SR
McKeon, Corey 	     Nebraska 	 LB 	JR
McLee, Kevin 	     W Virginia  LB 	SR
McSwain, Larry 	     UAB 	 DE 	SR
Mebane, Brandon      California  DL 	SR
Meriweather, Brandon Miami 	 DB 	SR
Moses, Quentin 	     Georgia 	 DE 	SR
Nelson, Reggie 	     Florida 	 DB 	JR
Okam, Frank 	     Texas 	 DT 	JR
Olajubutu, Sam 	     Arkansas 	 LB 	SR
Phillips, Kenny      Miami 	 DB 	Soph
Pitcock, Quinn 	     Ohio State  DL 	SR
Posluszny, Paul      Penn State  LB 	SR
Pressley, DeMario    NC State 	 DL 	Soph
Rivers, Keith 	     USC	 LB 	JR
Shaw, Tim 	     Penn State  LB 	SR
Siler, Brandon 	     Florida 	 LB 	JR
Taylor, Tony 	     Georgia 	 LB 	SR
Thomas, Marcus 	     Florida 	 DL 	SR
Toal, Brian 	     Boston Coll LB 	JR
Walters, Anthony     Clemson 	 LB 	SR
Warren, Justin 	     Texas A&M 	 LB 	SR
Weddle, Eric 	     Utah 	 DB 	SR
Willis, Patrick      Ole Miss 	 LB 	SR
Woodley, LaMarr      Michigan 	 DE 	SR
Zbikowski, Tom 	     Notre Dame  DB 	SR

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