Chuck Bednarik Award

The story of Dat Nguyen goes way beyond football. The records he has set, the honors that he has won are only part of it. Born in a refugee camp, the son of Vietnamese parents who fled their homeland following the fall of Saigon in 1975, Nguyen (pronounced WIN) became an All-America linebacker at Texas A&M.

Nguyen was a four-year starter for the Aggies and set the school record for career tackles. He was named the Maxwell Football Club's Collegiate Defensive Player of the Year and will receive the fourth Chuck Bednarik Award, named in honor of the former University of Pennsylvania great.

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A reporter previewing last month's Alamo Bowl between Penn State and Texas A&M asked LaVar Arrington which school really deserved the title of "Linebacker U."

A case could be made either way, the reporter pointed out. For years, Penn State owned the name because of players like Jack Ham, Dennis Onkotz, Greg Buttle and Shane Conlan. But the Aggies had an impressive cast of their own, including Quentin Coryatt, Reggie Brown and Dat Nguyen.

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When you consider all the great defensive players who attended the University of Miami, from Jerome Brown to Warren Sapp, from Ray Lewis to Jesse Armstead, it speaks volumes that Dan Morgan finished his career as the school's all-time leader in tackles with 532.

"I don't think one individual could do much more for a program than Danny has done," Miami coach Butch Davis said. "He is a great player on game day and he has been a terrific role model for our younger players. He's as physically gifted as anyone, he has great instincts and he is as tough a competitor as I've ever seen."

Julius Peppers is already in select company. As a defensive end at the University of North Carolina, Peppers drew comparisons to former Tar Heel great Lawrence Taylor. Now he is the latest winner of the Maxwell Football Club’s Chuck Bednarik Award as College Football’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Lawrence Taylor…Chuck Bednarik…Julius Peppers.

Two legends. One legend-in-the making.

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E.J. Henderson had a great career at the University of Maryland, becoming the first player in school history to earn consensus All-American honors in both his junior and senior seasons. But he may have saved his best performance for last as he almost single-handedly dismantled Tennessee in the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

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Teddy Lehman is never satisfied. During a brilliant senior season in which he led Oklahoma with 109 tackles and won the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Award, he was asked if any aspect of his game needed improvement.

"Everything," he replied. "I don't care who you are. You can always improve."

"That's why Teddy is the player that he is," said Brent Venables, the Sooners defensive coordinator. "He's extremely critical of his play and very hard on himself. Often, I have to convince him that he's pretty good."

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David Pollack's impact at the University of Georgia can be measured in several ways. You can add up his 34 career sacks, which established a school record. You can compile a list of his national honors, which now includes the Maxwell Club's 10th annual Chuck Bednarik Award as the outstanding defensive player in college football for 2004.

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Paul Posluszny will be honored by the Maxwell Club as the winner of the Chuck Bednarik Award as the outstanding defensive player in college football for the 2006 season.

Posluszny also won the Bednarik Award last season which makes him only the second player – Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern was the other in 1995-96– to earn this prestigious honor more than once.

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Make it a Maxwell Football Club double for Dan Connor. In 2003, he won the Jim Henry Award as the top high school player in the area. Tonight he returns to accept the 13th annual Chuck Bednarik Award as the Collegiate Defensive Player of the Year.

“It was definitely a surprise being in the same category as great players like James Laurinaitis (Ohio State linebacker) and Glenn Dorsey ( LSU defensive tackle),” Connor said when he was informed of the honor. “I wasn’t really thinking about the odds, but it’s neat to win the same award as ‘Poz’ since we’ve always been in competition.”

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