As a member of the Football Writers Association of America, College Football America staff members Chuck Cox, Matthew Postins and Kendall Webb are proud to be a part of the panel that will select the 2014 Nagurski Award, given to the nation’s top defensive player in college football. Each week the FWAA will award the Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week. The College Football America 2014 Yearbook Encyclopedia featured some of the Nagurski Watch List members earlier this football season. The book is available on iTunes for just $9.99. Get a copy today. It’s the most comprehensive College Football book of its kind.
DALLAS (FWAA) – Arizona middle linebacker Scooby Wright has been named the FWAA/Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for games the weekend of Oct. 25.
Wright, a 6-1, 246-pound sophomore from Windsor, Calif. (Cardinal Newman), sacked Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday three times and forced three fumbles in the Wildcats’ 59-37 victory over the Cougars. He recorded eight total tackles, collecting 18 yards in losses. Wright’s three forced fumbles were one short of the NCAA single-game record. With this week’s honor, Wright will be added to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List.
Each Tuesday during the 2014 season the Football Writers Association of America All-America Committee will select a National Defensive Player of the Week from nominations made by the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences, major independents, and National Players of the Week from the FCS.
Five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy will be announced by the FWAA on Nov. 20. The winner of the FWAA’s National Defensive Player of the Year Award will be revealed on Dec. 8 during a banquet hosted by the Charlotte Touchdown Club and sponsored by ACN at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, N.C. Alabama head coach Nick Saban is slated as the keynote speaker.
The FWAA has sponsored a National Defensive Player of the Year Award since 1993 and has named a National Defensive Player of the Week since the 2001 season. Jarrett will be added to the 2014 Bronko Nagurski Watch List.
In 2007, the FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Cub added the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award, which is sponsored by Florida East Coast Railway. A top defensive player from a past FWAA All-America team (1974) is the annual recipient of that award. Former Maryland and Dallas Cowboys’ star Randy White will accept the 2014 Legends Award.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is given in memory of the legendary All-American lineman at Minnesota (1927-29). Nagurski dominated college football at Minnesota as a bruising fullback and defensive tackle and could have been an All-America at any position. He then became a star for professional football’s Chicago Bears in the 1930s.
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,400 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com or 214-870-6516.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 21 awards boast nearly 700 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about our story.
Previous Weekly Winners:
• Aug. 30: Eric Kendricks, UCLA
• Sept. 6: Kyshoen Jarrett, Virginia Tech
• Sept. 13: Josh Keyes, Boston College
• Sept. 20: Quentin Poling, Ohio
• Sept. 27: Weston Steelhammer, Air Force
• Oct. 4: Nate Orchard, Utah
• Oct. 11: Terrance Plummer, UCF
• Oct. 18: Terrell Pinson, Louisiana Tech
• Oct. 25: Scooby Wright, Arizona
