Aug. 9, 2010

The Maxwell Football Club announced its preseason candidates for the 74th annual Maxwell Award and the 16th annual Chuck Bednarik Award today and the watch lists feature two University of South Carolina players.

Gamecock junior quarterback Stephen Garcia is one of 60 players on the 2010 Maxwell Award watch list. The Maxwell Award has been presented to the outstanding collegiate football player in America since 1937 and is named in honor of sportswriter Robert W. “Tiny” Maxwell.

Carolina sophomore cornerback Stephon Gilmore is one of 60 players on the 2010 Bednarik Award watch list. The Chuck Bednarik Award has been presented to the nation’s top defensive player since 1995. Mr. Bednarik is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame `69 and the NFL Hall of Fame `67.

Semifinalists for the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will be announced on November 8 and three finalists for each award will be announced November 22. The winners of the 2010 Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will be announced as part of the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show which will be held on December 9, 2010. The formal presentation of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Harrah’s Entertainment Atlantic City on March 4, 2011.

The watch list candidates have been chosen by the Maxwell Football Club’s Selection Committee and the Maxwell Club reserves the right to make additions and subtractions to these lists as the 2010 season unfolds. All members of the Maxwell Football Club, NCAA Sports Information Directors, Head Coaches and selected national media are eligible to vote for these awards.

The Maxwell and Chuck Bednarik Awards are members 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, ncfaa.org.