News

Tallahassee, FL – Reflecting the significant depth of talent of the 2015 college football receivers’ corps, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc., (TQC Foundation), the Florida-based creator and sponsor of the Biletnikoff Award, presented to the college football season’s outstanding receiver (regardless of position), added 7 receivers to its watch list today. Anyone who catches a pass, regardless of position (wide receiver, tight end, slot back or inside receiver, split end, or running back) is eligible to win the Biletnikoff Award. Founded in 1994, the Biletnikoff Award is a season, not career, award.

The Foundation will add players to the watch list at appropriate times this season up to the transmission of the final watch list to the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee on November 8, 2015. Foundation trustees cannot serve as voters and have never voted.

The Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, comprised of 312 distinguished voters (http://biletnikoffaward.com/voters), may add players to the watch list after receiving the final watch list from the Foundation. Among the players on the 2014 final watch list, when submitted to the voters, were the then top 24 receiving leaders in NCAA receiving statistics rankings. The National Selection Committee did not add any candidate to the Foundation’s final watch list in 2014. With the watch list additions today, the present top 24 leaders in NCAA receiving statistics for the 2015 season are now among the members of the Biletnikoff Award Watch List.

The 7 receivers joining this season’s Biletnikoff Award Watch List (http://biletnikoffaward.com/2015-biletnikoff-award-watch-list) in the second additions of 2015, the prestigious award’s 22nd year, are:

In other exciting news, the Biletnikoff Award has opened its online FanVote for voting for Biletnikoff Award candidates on the Biletnikoff Award website. 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 semi-finalists (ten receivers), finalists (three), and the winner. In 2013, in the closest contest in years, the FanVote tally provided the one-vote margin of victory for 2013 Biletnikoff Award winner Brandin Cooks of Oregon State.

To access the Biletnikoff Award FanVote, go to http://biletnikoffaward.com/fan-vote

Candidate eligibility and voting criteria, transparently explicit and detailed, are available for review at the Biletnikoff Award website: http://biletnikoffaward.com/criteria

The 2015 Biletnikoff Award winner will be announced live by 1991 Heisman Trophy winner and former receiver Desmond Howard on December 10, 2015, on ESPN’s The Home Depot College Awards show, at 7 pm (EST), at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.

The 2015 Biletnikoff Award recipient will be honored and will receive his trophy at the Biletnikoff Award banquet, an annual black tie event attended by 600 patrons and broadcast by ESPN3, at the University Center Club, Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida, on Saturday, January 30, 2016. The Biletnikoff Award banquet was hailed by 2013 keynote speaker Larry Csonka and 2014 keynoter Dick Vermeil as “the best banquet in college sports.”

Consistent with a long line of outstanding keynote speakers (including Bart Starr, Don Shula, Larry Csonka, Mike Ditka, Archie Manning, Steve Largent, and Dick Vermeil), College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Bob Griese will address the Biletnikoff Award banquet audience and, with all-time great college and pro hall of fame receiver Fred Biletnikoff, present the beautiful Biletnikoff Award trophy to the 2015 award winner. The pair will also recognize the Foundation’s 2016 scholarship recipients, who annually receive $900,000 in college and vocational school scholarships and benefits.

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 extra-curricular levels.

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The Biletnikoff Award

The Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the season’s outstanding college football receiver regardless of position (the award defines receiver as any player who catches a pass hence, wide receivers, tight ends, slot backs and inside receivers, split ends, and running backs are eligible) (http://biletnikoffaward.com/about_award) 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 TQC Foundation, Inc., joined the idea of a college receiver’s award 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 and printed banquet program have been cited nationally for excellence in design.

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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 BiletnikoffAward.com

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National College Football Awards Association 

The Biletnikoff Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast 700 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about the NCFAA’s history.

Beginning in 2015, The Home Depot College Football Awards will have a new home at the College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience in downtown Atlanta. Airing live on ESPN on December 10, 2015, college football’s brightest stars will be honored for their performance on and off the field.