This year’s presenters for The Home Depot College Football Awards – live on Thursday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN – include four College Football Hall of Fame inductees and four former The Home Depot College Football Award winners. Now in its 22nd year, the show features the live presentation of:
- Nine National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) player awards
- The NCFAA Contribution to College Football Award to Ara Parseghian
- The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award
- The Disney Spirit Award to Nate Boyer
- Student-athletes selected to the Walter Camp All-America Team and The Allstate AFCA Good Works Teams®
Presenters include:
|
AWARD |
PRESENTER |
FINALISTS |
|
Chuck Bednarik Award |
David Pollack 2004 winner, Georgia ESPN College Football Analyst |
Jadeveon Clowney (South Carolina) Jarvis Jones (Georgia) Manti Te’o (Notre Dame) |
|
Biletnikoff Award |
Steve Largent Tulsa Pro Football Hall of Fame |
Stedman Bailey (West Virginia) Marqise Lee (USC) Terrance Williams (Baylor) |
|
Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award |
Morten Andersen Michigan State Seven-time Pro Bowl selection |
Dustin Hopkins (FSU) Cairo Santos (Tulane) Caleb Sturgis (Florida) |
|
Ray Guy Award |
Ray Guy Southern Mississippi College Football Hall of Fame |
Ryan Allen (La Tech)* Kyle Christy (Florida) Scott Kovanda (Ball State) |
|
Maxwell Award |
Charlie Ward 1993 winner, Florida State College Football Hall of Fame |
Collin Klein (Kansas State) Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M) Manti Te’o (Notre Dame) |
|
Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award |
Todd Blackledge 1982 winner, Penn State ESPN College Football Analyst |
Collin Klein (Kansas State) Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M) Braxton Miller (Ohio State) |
|
Outland Trophy |
Will Shields 1992 winner, Nebraska College Football Hall of Fame |
Jonathan Cooper (UNC) Luke Joeckel (Texas A&M) Barrett Jones (Alabama)* |
|
Jim Thorpe Award |
Barry Switzer Arkansas College Football Hall of Fame & Gov. Bill Anoatubby |
Johnthan Banks (Mississippi State) Dee Milliner (Alabama) Phillip Thomas (Fresno State) |
|
Doak Walker Award |
Calvin Hill Recipient of the 2008 Doak Walker Legends Award, Yale |
Montee Ball (Wisconsin) Kenjon Barner (Oregon) Johnathan Franklin (UCLA) |
|
The Home Depot Coach of the Year |
Mark Gambill Home Depot VP Integrated Media |
TBA |
| Anthony Munoz 2004 Man of the Year, USC Pro Football Hall of Fame |
TBA |
*2011 award winner
In addition to the live announcement of the award winners above, The NCFAA Contributions to College Football Award will be presented to legendary Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian who took Fighting Irish from the depths of despair to national prominence in the 1960s and 1970s and later helped establish his own Medical Research Foundation.
Texas long snapper Nate Boyer will be awarded the Disney Spirit Award by Disney Sports Executive Faron Kelley. The award is given annually to college football’s most inspirational figure or team in college football. Boyer earned a Bronze Star for his service with the U.S. Army Special Forces Unit and has provided assistance to autistic children and Darfur refugees.
The Walter Camp All-America Team and The Allstate AFCA Good Works Teams® will also be recognized on the show. The Allstate AFCA Good Works Teams® recognizes the extra efforts made by college football players and student support staff off the field.
Additionally, The John Mackey Award (Outstanding Tight End) and the Rimington Award (Outstanding Center) will be presented during The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show. Tyler Eifert (Notre Dame), Zach Ertz (Stanford) and Austin Seferian-Jenkins (Washington) are finalists for the John Mackey Award. Earlier today, Mario Benavides (Louisville), Braxston Cave (Notre Dame), Dalton Freeman (Clemson), Khaled Holmes (USC), Barrett Jones (Alabama) and Matt Stankiewitch (Penn State) were named Rimington Trophy finalists.
2012 The Home Depot College Football Awards Highlights
The 22nd annual awards show – hosted by ESPN’s Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Tom Rinaldi and Samantha Steele – will originate from the Atlantic Dance Hall at Disney’s BoardWalk at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
- CFB Daily, ESPNU’s daily college football show hosted by Dari Nowkhah, will be produced outside of the Charlotte studio for the first time when it airs live from the Boardwalk on Thursday, Dec. 6 from 1-4 p.m.
- A special one-hour ESPNU Palmer & Pollack will air at 5:30 p.m. featuring former Florida quarterback Jesse Palmer and former Georgia defensive end David Pollack as they discuss candidates from both sides of the line of scrimmage.
- The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show – hosted by Steele, Rinaldi and Nowkhah – will air at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU. The red carpet hosts will return after the show at 9:30 p.m. for The Home Depot College Football Awards Recap Show.
- The Home Depot College Football Awards will also feature the live presentation of the NCFAA (National College Football Awards Association) Contribution to College Football Award; The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award; The Allstate AFCA Good Works Team; the Disney Spirit Award; and student-athletes selected to the Walter Camp All-America Team. It will air on ESPN Thursday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
- Viewers can also follow and engage on Twitter using #CFBAwards for news, opinion and behind-the-scenes extras during and leading up to this year’s award show.
MEDIA NOTE: Media interested in attending The Home Depot College Football Awards can apply for credentials by emailing Liz McCollum at elizabethm@bzapr.com.
PHOTOS: Photos of the nominees on the red carpet and of the winners will be available Thursday night here: http://bit.ly/TBTzRO
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, www.NCFAA.org.
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Contacts:
Gracie Blackburn, ESPN Communications, Gracie.Blackburn@espn.com
Liz McCollum, Brener Zwikel & Associates, 813-421-0550 or elizabethm@bzapr.com
