Aug. 29, 2007

University of South Carolina senior linebacker Jasper Brinkley is one of 66 candidates on the preliminary list for the prestigious Butkus Award ®, given each year to the nation’s best collegiate linebacker, the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, Inc., announced today.

Brinkley, a 6-2, 262-pound middle linebacker from Thomson, Ga., was a first-team All-SEC selection by the Associated Press in 2006 after registering a team-leading 107 tackles, including 85 solo stops. He was fourth in the league and 55th in the country in tackles, averaging 8.2 stops per game. Brinkley, who is also on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy pre-season Watch List, which is presented to the best defensive player in college football; the Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year Watch List; and the Lombardi Award Watch List, which honors the nation’s top lineman; is a consensus pre-season All-SEC first-team selection and an All-America candidate.

The Butkus Award ® Watch List will be trimmed to 10 semi-finalists on Thursday, October 18. That semi-finalist list will be cut down to three finalists and will be announced on Thursday, November 9. The winner will be announced in December in Orlando, FL.

The independent Butkus Award ® Selection Committee for the 2007 Butkus Award ®, comprised of some of the nation’s foremost journalists, is solely and exclusively responsible for all voting in the Butkus Award ® selection process. Additional Watch List candidates may be added in the coming weeks due to outstanding in-season play. Voting for the three finalists and the Butkus Award ® winner will be conducted by exclusive confidential ballots of the Selection Committee.

Created in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando Inc., the Butkus Award ® carries the name of one of the greatest middle linebackers in football history, former Chicago Bears great Dick Butkus.