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Announcement of Eleven Semifinalists of the Biletnikoff Award, Which Recognizes the College Football Season’s Outstanding FBS Receiver Regardless of Position.

For Immediate Release: December 7, 2020

Tallahassee, FL – The Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc., the Florida-based creator and sponsor of the prestigious Biletnikoff Award, announces the semifinalists for the 2020 Biletnikoff Award. The secure and confidential electronic voting by the distinguished members of the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee was conducted from November 30th through December 6th, and certified by a prominent CPA firm.

The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the college football season’s outstanding FBS receiver. Any player, regardless of position (wide receiver, tight end, slot back, and running back) who catches a pass is eligible for the award. As such, the Biletnikoff Award recognizes college football’s outstanding receiver, not merely college football’s outstanding wide receiver.

The semifinalists, finalists, and award recipient are selected by the highly distinguished Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, a group of prominent college football journalists, commentators, announcers, Biletnikoff Award winners, and other former receivers. Foundation trustees do not vote and have never voted. For a list of voters, please see BiletnikoffAward.com/voters.

The Biletnikoff Award candidate eligibility and voting criteria, transparently explicit and detailed, are available for review at BiletnikoffAward.com/criteria.

Recently, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation opened the 2020 FanVote. Every fan may vote once daily on the Biletnikoff Award FanVote page. The aggregate fan tally will be counted as one official vote to determine semifinalists, finalists (three receivers), and the winner. In the closest contest in years, the FanVote tally provided the one-vote margin of victory for 2013 winner Brandin Cooks of Oregon State.

The 2020 Biletnikoff Award semifinalists are as follows (in alphabetical order):

Player School
Jonathan Adams Jr. Arkansas State
Dyami Brown North Carolina
Jaelon Darden North Texas
Ty Fryfogle Indiana
Dax Milne BYU
Elijah Moore Ole Miss
Kyle Pitts Florida
Amari Rodgers Clemson
DeVonta Smith Alabama
Tylan Wallace Oklahoma State
Marlon Williams UCF

The correlation between Biletnikoff Award winners and stardom in the National Football League is nearly uniformly consistent. Past Biletnikoff Award winners include Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss, Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper, the late Terry Glenn, and Larry Fitzgerald.

The 2020 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented the Biletnikoff Award trophy by TQC Foundation Chairman George Avant, Jr., keynoter and college hall of famer Chad Hennings, and college and pro football hall of famer Fred Biletnikoff the Biletnikoff Award celebration/presentation at the University Center Club at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Saturday, March 6, 2021. 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 the late Bart Starr, Dick Vermeil, Floyd Little, Larry Csonka, Steve Largent, Mike Ditka, the late Don Shula, Dan Reeves, Archie Manning, Ron Jaworski, Gene Stallings, Bob Griese, Bill Curry, Bobby Bowden, Jim Kelly, Jerry Kramer, Joe Theismann, Dan Fouts, Lou Holtz, and Aaron Taylor.

The TQC Foundation’s charitable mission is the provision of college and vocational scholarships to North Florida high school seniors who have overcome significant barriers to achieve at the highest academic and extracurricular levels. Participation in sports is not a requirement. The Foundation has provided many millions of dollars for several hundreds of scholarships and related benefits through 2020.

The name Biletnikoff is synonymous with the term receiver. Fred Biletnikoff, a member of the pro and college football halls of fame, was a consensus All-America receiver at Florida State University, and an All-Pro receiver for the Oakland Raiders. 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.

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