July 19, 2013

University of South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is one of 50 “players to watch” for The Walter Camp Football Foundation’s 2013 Player of the Year award, the nation’s fourth-oldest individual college football accolade, it was announced today.

Clowney, a 6-6, 274-pound junior defensive end, was a Walter Camp first team All-American a year ago. The SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy balloting after recording 54 tackles, including a school record 23.5 tackles for loss and a school record 13.0 quarterback sacks. He was named to the preseason first team All-SEC squad on Thursday and has been listed on several national preseason “watch lists” including the Maxwell, Bednarik, Rotary Lombardi and Nagurski awards.

“We are proud to continue the great work of Walter Camp and recognize the best college football players in the nation,” Foundation president James Monico said. “This watch list is a great start to what is shaping up to be another exciting year of college football.”

The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists in mid-November. The 2013 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 125 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN SportsCenter on Thursday, December 12. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s annual national awards banquet on January 11, 2014 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.

Please note: Appearing on the Watch List is not a requirement for a player to win the Walter Camp award or be named to the All-American team.

Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation (www.waltercamp.org) – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.

2013 Walter Camp Player of the Year “Watch List”

Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska

Antonio Andrews, RB, Western Kentucky

Dri Archer, RB, Kent State

Tajh Boyd, QB, Clemson

Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville

Kolton Browning, QB, Louisiana Monroe

Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA

Ka’Deem Carey, RB, Arizona *

Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State

Rakeem Cato, QB, Marshall

Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina *

Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama

David Fluellen, RB, Toledo

Phillip Gaines, DB, Rice

Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia

John Hubert, RB, Kansas State

Jackson Jeffcoat, DE, Texas

Duke Johnson, RB, Miami Fla. #

Chuckie Keeton, QB, Utah State

Marqise Lee, WR, Southern California *

Taylor Lewan, OT, Michigan *

Jordan Lynch, QB, Northern Illinois

Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M *

Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M #

Jordan Matthews, WR, Vanderbilt

Venric Mark, RB, Northwestern

Taylor Martinez, QB, Nebraska

AJ McCarron, QB, Alabama

Braxton Miller, QB, Ohio State

C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama *

Aaron Murray, QB, Georgia

Louis Nix III, DE, Notre Dame

Casey Pachall, QB, TCU

Keith Price, QB, Washington

Silas Redd, RB, Southern California

Bradley Roby, DB, Ohio State #

Tyler Russell, QB, Mississippi State

Bishop Sankey, RB, Washington

Lache Seastrunk, RB, Baylor

Yawin Smallwood, LB, Connecticut

Will Sutton, DT, Arizona State #

Tyler Tettleton, QB, Ohio

De’Anthony Thomas, RB, Oregon

Logan Thomas, QB, Virginia Tech

Stephon Tuitt, DE, Notre Dame #

Kyle Van Noy, LB, BYU

Jason Verrett, DB, TCU #

Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson

T.J. Yeldon, RB, Alabama

* 2012 Walter Camp First Team All-American

# – 2012 Walter Camp Second Team All-American