Justin Blackmon, 2011 Biletnikoff Award winner as announced on ESPN’s 2011 The Home Depot College Football Awards Show, holds the Biletnikoff Trophy, the most beautiful in college sports.
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Tallahassee, FL -The Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc., the Florida-based creator and sponsor of the Biletnikoff Award, has released the 2012 Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List. The award annually recognizes the outstanding receiver in college football. The award recipient is selected by the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, a group of over 180 prominent football journalists, commentators, and receivers. The 2012 winner will be presented live on December 6, 2012, on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show to be broadcast from 7:30 – 9:30pm on ESPN. Foundation Chairman Walter Manley, II, announced that the Biletnikoff Award winner will receive his trophy before 600 patrons at the Biletnikoff Award Banquet at the University Center Club at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Saturday, February 9, 2013. Larry Csonka will deliver the keynote address (following a tradition of distinguished keynoters like Bart Starr, Steve Largent, Mike Ditka, Don Shula, Dan Reeves, Archie Manning, and Dan Fouts) and recognize the Foundation’s fifteen scholarship recipients who will receive from the Foundation well over $200,000 in college scholarships. The Foundation’s charitable mission is to provide 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 12, 2012, following the vote by the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee. Likewise, the three finalists will be declared, following another vote, on November 19, 2012. For complete details and updates of interest, together with weekly statistics and news of the Biletnikoff Award candidates, 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, Inc. created the Biletnikoff Award in 1994. Sixteen college receivers have won the award, including Randy Moss, Calvin Johnson, Michael Crabtree, and Larry Fitzgerald. Foundation Selection Committee Chairman Ritchie Pickron noted, “The 2012 Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List contains one of the most talented fields in recent memory. We are expecting an extremely competitive contest among the receivers to win the Biletnikoff Award.”
2012 Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List
(listed in alphabetical order)
Player, School, Year
Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin, JR
Keenan Allen, California, JR
Tavon Austin, West Virginia, SR
Stedman Bailey, West Virginia, JR
Emory Blake, Auburn, SR
Josh Boyce, TCU, JR
Jheranie Boyd, North Carolina, SR
Corey Brown, Ohio State, JR
Dan Buckner, Arizona, SR
Michael Campanaro, Wake Forest, JR
DeVonte Christopher, Utah, SR
Keenan Davis, Iowa, SR
Marcus Davis, Virgina Tech, SR
Mike Davis, Texas, JR
Andre Debose, Florida, JR
Aaron Dobson, Marshall, SR
Noel Grigsby, San Jose State, JR
Cobi Hamilton, Arkansas, SR
Nick Harwell, Miami (Ohio), JR
Willie Haulstead, Florida State , JR
Erik Highsmith, North Carolina, SR
Cody Hoffman, BYU, JR
DeAndre Hopkins, Clemson, JR
Justin Hunter, Tennessee, JR
Allen Hurns, Miami (FL), JR
Darius Johnson, SMU, SR
TJ Jones, Notre Dame, JR
Tavarres King, Georgia, SR
Alec Lemon, Syracuse, SR
Colin Lockett, San Diego State, JR
Jordan Matthews, Vanderbilt, JR
Matt Miller, Boise State, SO
TJ Moe, Missouri, SR
Uzoma Nwachukwu, Texas A&M, SR
Quinton Patton, Louisiana Tech, SR
Tevin Reese, Baylor, JR
Da’Rick Rogers, Tennessee, JR
Roy Roundtree, Michigan, SR
Mike Shanahan, Pittsburgh, SR
Kenny Stills, Oklahoma, JR
Devin Street, Pittsburgh, JR
Ryan Swope, Texas A&M, SR
Conner Vernon, Duke, SR
Eric Ward, Texas Tech, JR
Markus Wheaton, Oregon State, SR
Terrance Williams, Baylor, SR
Marquess Wilson, Washington State, JR
Robert Woods, USC, JR
About the Biletnikoff Award
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. Present 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 an outstanding award and dynamic organization. The trophy, presented to each winner, is the most beautiful individual award in college football – it has won several national awards for design excellence and aesthetic appeal.
National College Football Awards Association
The Biletnikoff 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. Following is the complete 2012 preseason watch list calendar:
Mon., July 9: Bednarik Award / Maxwell Award
Tue., July 10: Mackey Award / Rimington Trophy
Wed., July 11: Lou Groza Award / Ray Guy Award
Thurs., July 12: Bronko Nagurski Trophy / Outland Trophy
Fri., July 13: Jim Thorpe Award
Mon., July 16: Butkus Award / Rotary Lombardi Award
Tue., July 17: Biletnikoff Award
Wed., July 18: Davey O’Brien Award
Thurs., July 19: Doak Walker Award
Fri., July 20: Walter Camp Award
About the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc.
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.
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The Biletnikoff 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,