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The 2023 Biletnikoff Award Banquet & Celebration on March 11, 2023, Will Honor 2022 Biletnikoff Award Winner & Unanimous 1st-Team All-America Receiver Jalin Hyatt of Tennessee and Recognize Foundation Scholarship Recipients

For Immediate Release: March 9, 2023

Tallahassee, FL – The Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc., the Florida-based creator and sponsor of the prestigious Biletnikoff Award will honor unanimous 1st-team All-America receiver Jalin Hyatt of Tennessee as the 2022 winner of the Biletnikoff Award and Foundation scholarship winners at the sold-out 29th annual Biletnikoff Award black-tie Banquet & Celebration before 550 patrons on March 11, 2023, at the Dunlap Champions Club, formerly the University Center Club, at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida.

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 650 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 three Biletnikoff Award finalists, as has been the norm throughout the award’s history, dominated 1st-team All-America selections. Hyatt was selected unanimous 1st-team All-America. Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. was also selected unanimous 1st-team All-America. The third finalist, Iowa State’s Xavier Hutchinson, was selected 1st-team All-America on the AP team, the only official selector that established three wide receiver positions on its team.

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

The 501(c)(3) TQC Foundation’s charitable mission is the provision of college and vocational scholarships to North Florida high school seniors who have overcome significant challenges to achieve at the highest academic and extracurricular levels. Participation in sports is not a requirement, but does count as an extracurricular activity. The all-volunteer Foundation has provided over 300 scholarships with benefits of nearly five million dollars through 2022.

The TQC Foundation 2023 scholarship recipients are:
Luke Aiken, Lawton Chiles High School
Sydney Faith Andrews, Wakulla Christian School
Bryanna Cline, St. John Paul II Catholic High School
Treyvious La’Jordan Copeland, Gadsden County High School
Ashby Ellis Culpepper, Leon High School
William Gabriel Gamalero, Aucilla Christian Academy,
Helen Tallulah Love King, Leon High School
Carolann Eliza Lancaster, James Madison Preparatory High School
Chinonso Okoli, Florida State University School
Emilie Grace Thompson, Lincoln High School
Grace Sophia Tran, Leon High School
Heaven Ward, Maclay School
Rylea Addison Williams, Blountstown High School

The correlation between Biletnikoff Award winners and stardom in the National Football League is almost uniformly consistent. Past Biletnikoff Award winners include Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss, Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper, Golden Tate, Brandin Cooks, the late Terry Glenn, DeVonta Smith, Ja’Marr Chase, and Larry Fitzgerald.

Jalin Hyatt will be introduced by Tennessee’s head coach Josh Heupel and presented the Biletnikoff Award trophy by TQC Foundation Chairman Mark Ryan, with banquet keynote speaker Drew Pearson, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, at the sold-out black-tie Biletnikoff Award Banquet & Celebration attended by 550 patrons at the Dunlap Champions Club at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Saturday, March 11, 2023. 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, the late Floyd Little, Larry Csonka, Steve Largent, Mike Ditka, the late Don Shula, the late Dan Reeves, Archie Manning, Ron Jaworski, Gene Stallings, Bob Griese, Bill Curry, the late Bobby Bowden, Jim Kelly, Jerry Kramer, Joe Theismann, Dan Fouts, Chad Hennings, Lou Holtz, Aaron Taylor, and Archie Griffin.

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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