Aug. 16, 2010

University of South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders has been named to the 32-member preseason 2010 John Mackey Watch List, it was announced today by the Nassau County Sports Commission.

Given annually to the best collegiate tight end, the award recipient is selected by vote of the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. The 2010 John Mackey winner will be announced on December 9, 2010.

Saunders, a 6-5, 270-pound senior from Durham, N.C., has caught 60 passes for 718 yards and six touchdowns in his career. Last season he caught 32 passes for 353 yards and three scores. He was also a member of the Mackey preseason Watch List a year ago.

NFL Hall of Fame member John Mackey is considered to be the best to have played the tight end position. A tight end by whom all others are measured, Mackey was a role model on and off the field as demonstrated by his Super Bowl Championship, his commitment to community and his place in history as the first President of the NFLPA.

The John Mackey Award presented since 2000, lists nine NFL players as alumni: Dallas Clark (’01) of the 2006 Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts, two-time Super Bowl Champion Daniel Graham (’02) of the Denver Broncos, Kellen Winslow II (’03) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, two-time Super Bowl Champion Heath Miller (’04) of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Marcedes Lewis (’05) of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Matt Spaeth (’06) of the of the 2008 Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, Fred Davis (’07) of the Washington Redskins, Chase Coffman (’08) of the Cincinnati Bengals and the 2009 John Mackey Award recipient Aaron Hernandez of the New England Patriots.

The John Mackey Award is a member 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, www.ncfaa.org.