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The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc., Announces the 2014 Biletnikoff Award Pre-season Watch List

Tallahassee, FL –  The Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc., the Florida-based creator and sponsor of the Biletnikoff Award, has released the 2014 Biletnikoff Award Pre-season Watch List. The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the outstanding receiver in college footballAny player, regardless of position (wide receiver, tight end, slot back, and running back) who catches a pass is eligible for the award. The Biletnikoff Award recognizes the outstanding receiver, not merely wide receiver.  The award recipient is selected by the highly distinguished Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, a group 221 prominent college football journalists, commentators, and former receivers. Receivers may be added to the watch list as their season performances dictate.

According to TQC Foundation Chairman Charles Hopkins, “Given the significant number of excellent college receivers playing this season, the race for the 2014 Biletnikoff Award will be the most entertaining and wide-open in many years.”

The 2014 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented live on December 11, 2014, on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show to be broadcast from 7:00 – 9:00pm on ESPN. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff will announce the 2014 winner on the show.

The correlation between Biletnikoff Award winners and stardom in the National Football League is uncannily predictable. Past Biletnikoff Award winners include Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss, Michael Crabtree, and Larry Fitzgerald.

Chairman Hopkins announced that the 2014 Biletnikoff Award winner will receive his trophy, the most beautiful in college sports, before 600 patrons at the Biletnikoff Award Banquet at the University Center Club at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Saturday, February 7, 2015. The banquet was hailed

by 2014 keynote speaker Dick Vermeil, as well as by 2013 keynoter Larry Csonka, as “the best banquet in college sports.” The banquet has featured distinguished keynoters of profound character and accomplishments including Bart Starr, Larry Csonka, Steve Largent, Mike Ditka, Don Shula, Dan Reeves, Archie Manning, Ron Jaworski, Gene Stallings, Bill Curry, Jim Kelly, Jerry Kramer, and Dan Fouts. The banquet also recognize the Foundation’s scholarship recipients who will receive from the Foundation well over $900,000 in college scholarships in 2015 alone, as in 2014. The Foundation’s charitable mission is the provision of college scholarships to North Florida high school seniors who have overcome significant barriers to achieve at the highest academic and extra-curricular levels.

The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc., will announce the ten Biletnikoff Award semifinalists on November 17, 2014, following the vote by the 221 members of the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee. Likewise, the three finalists will be declared, following another vote, on November 24, 2014.  For complete details and updates of interest, together with weekly statistics and timely and important news of the Biletnikoff Award candidates, as well as a fan vote and discussion board, please consult the Foundation website at www.biletnikoffaward.com.

The name Biletnikoff is synonymous with the term receiver. Fred Biletnikoff, a member of the pro and college football halls of fame, was an All-Pro receiver with the Oakland Raiders and an All-America receiver at Florida State University. He caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns in his 14-year Raiders career from 1965 through 1978. Fred was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XI. The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation (TQC), Inc., created the Biletnikoff Award in 1994.

Foundation Selection Committee Co-Chairman and Founding Trustee Walter Manley, II, noted, “The 2014 Biletnikoff Award Pre-season Watch List contains an extremely talented field, consistent with the escalating importance of the passing game in college football.” Selection Committee Co-Chairman Bill Hilaman seconded  Co-chairman Ritchie Pickron’s opinion:Receiver has become the glamour position in college offenses; the great athletes are gravitating to receiver which means the ranks of excellent college receivers continue to grow.”

The banquet, widely considered the best in college sports, will be live streamed on ESPN3. ESPN3 is ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, giving fans a destination that delivers thousands of live sports events annually, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members. The broadcast is available at no additional cost to viewers who receive their high-speed internet connection or video connection from an affiliated service provider. ESPN3 is currently available in 83 million homes. It is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.

2014 Biletnikoff Award Pre-season Watch List

(listed in alphabetical order)

Player School Year
Nelson Agholor University of Southern California Jr.
Dres Anderson University of Utah Sr.
Kenny Bell University of Nebraska Sr.
Tyler Boyd University of Pittsburgh So.
Da’Ron Brown Northern Illinois University Sr.
Rashon Ceaser University of Louisiana at Monroe Jr.
Sammie Coates Auburn University Jr.
Amari Cooper University of Alabama Jr.
Jamison Crowder Duke University Sr.
Titus Davis Central Michigan University Sr.
Geremy Davis University of Connecticut Sr.
Devante Davis University of Nevada, Las Vegas Sr.
Quinshad Davis University of North Carolina Jr.
Corey Davis Western Michigan University So.
Stefon Diggs University of Maryland Jr.
Devin Funchess University of Michigan Jr.
Antwan Goodley Baylor University Sr.
Jakeem Grant Texas Tech University Jr.
Deontay Greenberry University of Houston Jr.
Rashad Greene Florida State University Sr.
Rannell Hall University of Central Florida Sr.
Justin Hardy East Carolina University Sr.
Josh Harper California State University, Fresno Sr.
Chris Harper University of California Jr.
Nick Harwell University of Kansas Sr.
Rashard Higgins Colorado State University So.
Austin Hill University of Arizona Sr.
Christian Jones Northwestern University Sr.
Darius Joseph Southern Methodist University Jr.
Jameon Lewis Mississippi State University Sr.
Tyler Lockett Kansas State University Sr.
Matt Miller Boise State University Sr.
Ty Montgomery Stanford University Sr.
Richard Mullaney Oregon State University Jr.
Jamarcus Nelson University of Alabama at Birmingham Sr.
Levi Norwood Baylor University Sr.
DeVante Parker University of Louisville Sr.
Breshad Perriman University of Central Florida Jr.
Jamal Robinson University of Louisiana at Lafayette Sr.
Ezell Ruffin San Diego State University Sr.
Dominic Rufran University of Wyoming Sr.
Wes Saxton University of South Alabama Jr.
Jaxon Shipley University of Texas Sr.
Tommy Shuler Marshall University Sr.
Devin Smith Ohio State University Jr.
Shavarez Smith University of South Alabama Jr.
Daniel Spencer University of Houston Sr.
Jaelen Strong Arizona State University Jr.
Jordan Taylor Rice University Sr.
Laquon Treadwell University of Mississippi So.
Richy Turner University of Nevada Sr.
Shaq Washington University of Cincinnati Sr.
Jordan Williams Ball State University Jr.
Tyler Winston San Jose State University So.
Shane Wynn Indiana University Sr.

 

The Biletnikoff Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 21 awards boast 678 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about the NCFAA story.  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.

Here is the complete 2014 preseason watch list calendar:

Mon., July 7: Bednarik Award / Maxwell Award
Tue., July 8: Mackey Award / Rimington Trophy
Wed., July 9: Lou Groza Award / Ray Guy Award
Thurs., July 10: Bronko Nagurski Trophy / Outland Trophy
Fri., July 11: Jim Thorpe Award
Mon., July 14: Butkus Award / Rotary Lombardi Award
Tue., July 15: Biletnikoff Award
Wed., July 16: Davey O’Brien Award
Thurs., July 17: Doak Walker Award
Fri., July 18: Walter Camp Award

The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization, is the creator and sponsor of the Biletnikoff Award. The Foundation administers the Biletnikoff Award, its charitable activities, and the distinguished Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee. Foundation Trustees are prohibited from serving on the National Selection Committee. For a full recounting of the Foundation’s activities, please consult www.BiletnikoffAward.com.

The Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the nation’s outstanding college football receiver (the award defines receiver as any player who catches a pass) by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc., (TQC). The TQC Foundation, Inc., is an independent, charitable organization that was founded in 1994. Past Chairman and Founding Trustee Professor Walter W. Manley II, Founding Trustee L. Thomas Cox, Jr., Founding Trustee Rocky Bevis, and Founding Trustee Bob Teel established the award and the TQC Foundation, Inc., that sponsors it.  Many more trustees have contributed to its development as one of the most prominent awards in college football. The idea of a college receiver’s award was not a novel one, as a number of organizations throughout America considered establishing it; however, the TQC Foundation, Inc., joined the idea to the organization’s vision and created the outstanding award and dynamic organization. The trophy, presented to each winner, is the most beautiful in college football – it has won several national awards for design excellence and aesthetic appeal.  Likewise, the website, ring, and printed banquet program have been frequently cited nationally for excellence in design.

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