Central Michigan S Jahleel Addae, Ohio DB Travis Carrie, Miami DB Dayonne Nunley and Western Michigan S Johnnie Simon Named to the Jim Thorpe Award Watch List
Oklahoma City—The Jim Thorpe Association announced today the 2012 Preseason Watch List for the Jim Thorpe Award given to the best defensive back in college football. The list includes 35 of the top defensive backs in the country representing 11 conferences.
Addae led Central Michigan and ranked ninth in the MAC with 107 total tackles and also tied for the conference lead with four interceptions. The junior from Valrico, Fla., also collected eight passes defensed and one forced fumble last season for the Chippewas.
Carrie tied for the MAC lead with four interceptions and added 49 tackles for the Bobcats last season. A senior from Antioch, Calif., Carrie also ranked second in the conference with 17 passes defensed last season for Ohio.
Nunley tied for third in the MAC with 16 passes defensed and his three interceptions were tied for third in the conference. A junior from Monroeville, Pa., Nunley also collected 58 tackles for Miami last season.
Simon led the Broncos and ranked seventh in the MAC with 114 total tackles last season. A senior from West Palm Beach, Fla., Simon also added two interceptions, three and one-half sacks and nine passes defensed for Western Michigan last season.
The Thorpe Award is named after history’s greatest athlete, Jim Thorpe, and is presented by the Jim Thorpe Association in Oklahoma City. Thorpe excelled at every sport in which he competed, including football at which he played on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. The 2012 Olympics mark the 100-year anniversary of Thorpe winning gold in the decathlon and pentathlon at the Stockholm Olympics.
The Jim Thorpe Award watch list is chosen by a screening committee who compiles a list of 30-40 players each year. The list is not final and players who have outstanding seasons are added as the season progresses. The Thorpe Award winner is selected from three finalists and will be announced at The Home Depot College Football Awards on December 6, 2012 on ESPN.
The Jim Thorpe 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 website, www.NCFAA.org.
The members of the NCFAA are unveiling their preseason watch lists over a 12-day period this month. Fifteen of the association’s 21 awards select a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates.