Tag: Maxwell Football Club

Penn State defensive trio named on Bednarik Award watch list

No school has more Chuck Bednarik Awards than Penn State. These three players hope to add another to the collection in 2023.

No school has more Chuck Bednarik Award winners than Penn State, and the Nittany Lions have three players looking to keep it that way this season.

The watch list for the Bednarik Award (most outstanding defensive player in college football) was released on Monday, and it included three of Penn State’s top defensive stars. Linebacker [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag], cornerback [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag], and defensive end [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag] were each included on the award’s watch list from the Maxwell Football Club.

Carter started six games and played in all 13 games for Penn State in 2022. He earned All-Big Ten second-team honors and was a freshman All-American for the FWAA. He led Penn State with 10.5 tackles for loss last season and he finished fourth in the Big Ten with 6.5 sacks last season.

Carter has also appeared on the watch lists for the Butkus Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, and the Lott IMPACT Trophy.

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King is coming off a stellar season in the Penn State defense in 2022. He was named a third-team All-Big Ten player by the Big Ten coaches and media and received third-team All-America from Pro Football Focus and an honorable mention for All-American by Phil Steele. The Walter Camp Football Foundation named King a second-team All-American.

King has also been named to the watch lists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, Bronko Nagurski Award, and the Jim Thorpe Award.

Robinson transferred to Penn State from Maryland and he quickly asserted himself as a playmaker on the Penn State defensive line. Robinson appeared in 12 games and recorded 10 tackles for a loss with 5.5 sacks. He earned team defensive player of the week honors three times last season, including in the Rose Bowl against Utah.

Robinson also appears on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Award.

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The Chuck Bednarik Award was first presented by the Maxwell Football Club in 1995 to former Northwestern linebacker (and head coach) Pat Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald won the award each of the first two years it was presented. He is one of two two-time winners of the Bednarik Award.

Penn State’s Paul Posluszny is the other. Pusluszny won back-to-back Bednarik Awards in 2005 and 2006, and he was followed a year later by Dan Conner to make it three consecutive seasons for Penn State to be home to the Bednarik Award. Penn State’s first Bednarik Award winner was linebacker LaVar Arrington in 1999.

Penn State may have four all-time Bednarik Awards, but they are tied with Alabama for the most individual players to have won the Bednarik Award with three each. Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. was last season’s Bednarik Award winner.

Other notable Bednarik Award winners through the years include Charles Woodson (Michigan, 1997), Julius Peppers (North Carolina, 2001), Ndamukong Suh (Nebraska, 2009), Tyrann Mathieu (LSU, 2011), Aaron Donald (Pitt, 2013), Chase Young (Ohio State, 2019), and Jordan Davis (Georgia, 2021).

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Sean Clifford receives honor from Maxwell Football Club

Sean Clifford receives award from Maxwell Football Club

Former Penn State quarterback [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] added an award to his profile on Thursday as the Maxwell Football Club named him the latest recipient of the Brian Westbrook Regional Player of the Year.

“Blessed and honored to join such a great group,” Clifford said in a message posted on his Twitter account. “Thank you to [Maxwell Football Club] for the honor! Thank you [Penn State] for the opportunity to be a part of such a great program!”

Clifford will be honored by the Maxwell Football Club at this year’s annual awards gala on March 9 in Wilkes-Barre. Clifford will join others being honored by the Maxwell Football Club including USC quarterback Caleb Williams (Maxwell Award winner), Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. (Chuck Bednarik Award), North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye (Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year), and Tulane head coach Willie Fritz (George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year).

The gala will also feature NFL award winners Jalen Hurts (Bert Bell Award) and Nick Siriani (Greasy Neale Coach of the Year Award) of the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. Susquehanna head coach Tom Perkovich will be honored as the Maxwell Football Club’s Andy Talley Regional Coach of the Year following a 10-1 season and the first appearance in the Division 3 playoffs since 2009.

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Keion White headlines the Bednarik Award’s weekly honor roll

The Bednarik Award’s weekly honor roll features several top defensive performances from last week.

Keion White is coming off a huge weekend for Georgia Tech, earning the Bednarik Award Player of the Week honors. He is joined by a strong list of players who made impacts last weekend on the defensive side of the ball.

The Maxwell Football Club awards the Chuck Bednarik Award for the top defensive player in college football. Last season, Georgia’s Jordan Davis was the recipient of the Bednarik Award.

Every March, the club hosts an annual awards gala at the Harrah’s in Atlantic City, N.J. where the winners of the Maxwell Award (for the nation’s top player) as well as the Bednarik Award are honored.

Scroll down and check out the seven players who made this week’s Bednarik Award Weekly Honor Roll!

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Tanner Mordecai, Bo Nix and Drake Maybe make the Maxwell Award weekly honor roll

Find out who made the Maxwell Award’s weekly honor roll

Tanner Mordecai was named the Maxwell Award Player of the Week as the SMU quarterback had a huge game in a win versus Houston.

The senior quarterback threw for nine touchdowns and ran for another in what was one of the most exciting games of the college football season.

Bo Nix sparkled once again and it was yet another sharp performance from North Carolina freshman Drake Maye, who might just be the best quarterback in the nation right now. Maye has lived up to the hype and beyond in his performances this season.

The Maxwell Football Club awards the Maxwell Award, annually given to the nation’s top college football player. They also hand out the Chuck Bednarik Award for the top defensive player in college football.

Every March, the club hosts an annual awards gala at the Harrah’s in Atlantic City, N.J.

Check out the six players who made this week’s Maxwell Award Weekly Honor Roll!

Penn State linebacker Abdul Carter up for freshman of the year award

Penn State linebacker Abdul Carter makes semifinalist cut for national freshman award

Award season is nearly here in college football, and one of Penn State’s newest star players is a semifinalist for a national award. Linebacker [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag] was among the 14 semifinalists named for this season’s Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year by the Maxwell Football Club.

The Philadelphia native has started two games and played in eight for Penn State this season and has accumulated 35 tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and two pass breakups.

Carter is one of three Big Ten freshmen making the semifinalist cut for the award. Here are this year’s semifinalists for the Shaun Alexander Award;

  • Terrion Arnold, DB, Alabama
  • Kelvin Banks Jr., OL, Texas
  • Jaishawn Barham, LB, Maryland
  • Will Campbell, OL, LSU
  • Abdul Carter, LB, Penn State
  • Nick Emmanwori, DB, South Carolina
  • Gabe Jacas, LB, Illinois
  • Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ole Miss
  • Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina
  • Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
  • Harold Perkins Jr., LB, LSU
  • Richard Reese, RB, Baylor
  • Malaki Starks, DB, Georgia
  • Deone Walker, DL, Kentucky

The Shaun Alexander Award was first presented in 2018 to Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Other recent recipients of the award include Memphis running back Kenneth Gainwell, Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr., and Georgia wide receiver Brock Bowers last season.

Carter and Penn State look to score a rebound win to add some highlights to his candidate profile with a road win at Indiana.

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Joey Porter Jr. named semifinalist for Chuck Bednarik Award

Joey Porter Jr. among the semifinalists for the Bednarik Award

Penn State cornerback [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] started off the month of November by being recognized as a semifinalist for one of the top individual awards in college football for a defensive player. The Maxwell Football Club revealed its semifinalists for this year’s Chuck Bednarik Award on Tuesday, and Porter was among those making the semifinalist cut.

The Bednarik Award is presented annually to college football’s best defensive player by the Maxwell Football Club. It is named in honor of former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Chuck Bednarik, who played his college football at Penn.

Porter is looking to do something that is rarely done with the Bednarik Award. Only four cornerbacks have won the Bednarik Award since it was first presented in 1995. The only other cornerbacks to win the award are Charles Woodson (1997, Michigan), Patrick Peterson (201-, LSU), Tyrann Mathieu (2011, LSU), and Minkah Fitzpatrick (2017, Alabama).

Dan Connor is the most recent Penn State player to take home the Bednarik Award. He did so in 2007 to make it three consecutive seasons a Penn State player won the award. Paul Posluszny won the award in 2005 and 2006 and is one of two all-time winners to win the award multiple times. Current Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald is the only other player to win multiple Bednarik Awards. He did so in 1995 and 1996, the first two seasons the award was presented.

In addition to Posluszny and Connor, Penn State also saw LaVar Arrington win the award in 1999 to boost Penn State’s total to four Bednarik Awards. No other school has more than two Bednarik Award winners (Northwestern, Georgia, LSU, and Alabama each have two Bednarik award winners).

Last year’s recipient of the Bednarik Award was Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis. The last Big Ten player to win the award was Chase Young of Ohio State in 2019.

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Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion. Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Who made the Maxwell Award’s Weekly Honor Roll for Week 8?

Bo Nix and Titis Swen make the top seven players this week in the Maxwell Football Club’s weekly honor roll.

For the second time this season, Oregon quarterback Bo Nix made the Maxwell Football Club’s weekly honor roll. This after Nix was simply magisterial in Saturday’s win over UCLA.

Nix was joined by a healthy representation from the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 as well as Wyoming running back Titus Swen.

The Maxwell Football Club awards the Maxwell Award, annually given to the nation’s top college football player. They also hand out the Chuck Bednarik Award for the top defensive player in college football.

Every March, the club hosts an annual awards gala at the Harrah’s in Atlantic City, N.J.

Check out the seven players who made this week’s Maxwell Award Weekly Honor Roll!

Myles Murphy, Jacoby Windom headline the weekly Bednarik Award honor roll

Seven players make the Bednarik Award’s weekly honor roll from the Maxwell Football Club.

Myles Murphy was absolutely tremendous for Clemson last week as the defensive end made play after play in an important win over Florida State. For his efforts, Murphy was named the Bednarik Award Player of the Week as he highlights this week’s weekly honor roll from the Maxwell Football Club.

Murphy’s strong performance leads the way as one of the seven top performers highlighted by the Maxwell Football Club from Week 7 of the college football season.

The Maxwell Football Club awards the Chuck Bednarik Award for the top defensive player in college football. Last season, Georgia’s Jordan Davis was the recipient of the Bednarik Award.

Every March, the club hosts an annual awards gala at the Harrah’s in Atlantic City, N.J. where the winners of the Maxwell Award (for the nation’s top player) as well as the Bednarik Award are honored.

Check out the seven players who made this week’s Bednarik Award Weekly Honor Roll!

What six players made the Bednarik Award’s weekly honor roll?

Six players made the Maxwell Football Club’s weekly honor roll.

This week, North Carolina State’s Drake Thomas was named the Bednarik Award Player of the Week. The weekly honor was given out by the Maxwell Football Club.

Drake and North Carolina State face a monster challenge this week when they play at Syracuse on Saturday afternoon. It is a battle of two ranked teams that could and should have implications for the ACC Championship Game.

If Syracuse wins this game, then they are definitely for real. But that is neither here nor there. Back to the Bednarik Award’s Weekly Honor Roll…

The Maxwell Football Club awards the Chuck Bednarik Award for the top defensive player in college football. Last season, Georgia’s Jordan Davis was the recipient of the Bednarik Award.

Every March, the club hosts an annual awards gala at the Harrah’s in Atlantic City, N.J. where the winners of the Maxwell Award (for the nation’s top player) as well as the Bednarik Award are honored.

Check out the six players who made this week’s Bednarik Award Weekly Honor Roll!

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Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Miyan Williams headline Maxwell Football Club’s Weekly Honor Roll

Six players made the weekly Maxwell Football Club’s honor roll.

UCLA is suddenly hot, an upset win last weekend over Washington giving a real jolt to the Bruins’ season.

It was the play of quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson that helped lift UCLA to a statement win. With his arm and his feet, Thompson-Robinson was simply dominant for the Bruins.

Also dominant this week was the performance of a pair of running backs: Miyan Williams (Ohio State) and Jahmyr Gibbs (Alabama). Both players made the weekly honor roll from the Maxwell Football Club.

The Maxwell Football Club awards the Maxwell Award, annually given to the nation’s top college football player. They also hand out the Chuck Bednarik Award for the top defensive player in college football.

Every March, the club hosts an annual awards gala at the Harrah’s in Atlantic City, N.J.

Check out the six players who made this week’s Maxwell Award Weekly Honor Roll!