3 Hurricanes Named To Bednarik Award Watch List

Oct. 30, 2003

Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – Three University of Miami defensive starters – junior safety Sean Taylor, senior linebacker Jonathan Vilma and junior tackle Vince Wilfork – are among 14 players listed on the Watch List for the 2003 Bednarik Award honoring college football’s top defensive player, the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia announced.

Taylor (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) was recently rated college football’s top player by ESPN The Magazine in a mid-season ranking, as he has become more than just a burgeoning star in the secondary. He also has solidified his standing as college football’s finest defensive back through the first half of the 2003 season and is nothing less than a candidate for college football’s highest honors. A gifted football player with a rare combination of size, speed, strength and agility, Taylor is a brutally hard hitter who also displays excellent skills as a coverage man and in run support. A standout in the tradition of former UM safeties Edward Reed and Bennie Blades, Taylor recently earned BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honors for his play against Florida State (Oct. 11).

Vilma (Coral Gables, Fla./Coral Gables HS) is in his third full season as a starter, but he has become more than the leader of the Miami Hurricanes defense – he’s now the team’s unquestioned leader. Vilma has been an impressive player since the beginning of his UM career. He leads the team lead with 58 total tackles, 37 solos, along with 4.5 tackles for losses, one quarterback sack, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and a pass broken up. Vilma has made double-digits in tackles three times this season, and his 13 tackles against Florida State is an individual team high for the Hurricanes in 2003.

An excellent student-athlete, Vilma led the team in tackles both of the last two seasons and is in the lead again through seven games this season. An excellent scholar-athlete who earned BIG EAST All-Academic Team honors in 2001 and 2002, Vilma was named this week the recipient of an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship as part of the 2003 National Football Foundation’s Scholar-Athlete Class and is eligible for the Draddy Award, also known as “The Academic Heisman”. A Butkus Award Semi-Finalist in 2002, Vilma is among 11 semi-finalists for the honor again this season after being a unanimous first-team All-BIG EAST selection by the league’s head coaches in 2002 and a first-team Verizon Academic All-American in 2002.

Wilfork (Boynton Beach, Fla./Santaluces HS) is widely heralded as one of college football’s top defensive players and is a dominating player in the mold of former Miami greats Warren Sapp, Cortez Kennedy and Russell Maryland. A gifted natural athlete, Wilfork has recorded 30 tackles (14 solo), 5.5 tackles for a loss (19 yards), five sacks (23 yards), 12 quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and recovered one fumble and is tied for the team lead in sacks. He recorded a season-high eight tackles (three solo), including one sack, versus Florida, registered three tackles, all behind the line of scrimmage, in the Hurricanes’ season opener against Louisiana Tech, made six tackles, including one sack, while forcing a fumble.

Wilfork made two tackles, including one sack, at Boston College. He was dominant against Florida State with five tackles and one fumble recovery as he controlled the line of scrimmage all day against the Seminoles when he registered five tackles, including his fifth sack of the season. Wilfork has recorded a sack in five of UM’s seven games this season.

The last of the 60-minute men, Chuck Bednarik starred at both linebacker and center for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and was a three-year All-American at the University of Pennsylvania playing on both sides of the ball. The Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia annually presents an award for College Defensive Player of the Year in his name. Voters for the award are NCAA head football coaches, members of the Maxwell Football Club and sports journalists from across the country.

The 2003 Bednarik Award winner will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show to be held Thursday, December 11, 2003 in Orlando. The winner will be honored at a banquet in Philadelphia in February.

The 14 members (in alphabetical order) of the Watch List for the 2003 Bednarik Award:

Michael Boulware LB Florida StateKarlos Dansby LB AuburnRod Davis LB Southern MississippiChris Gamble DB Ohio StateMatt Grootegoed LB Southern CaliforniaTommie Harris DT OklahomaDerrick Johnson LB TexasTeddy Lehman LB OklahomaDavid Pollack DE GeorgiaSean Taylor FS MiamiJonathan Vilma MLB MiamiCourtney Watson LB Notre DameVince Wilfork DT MiamiDemorrio Williams LB Nebraska

-UM-