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Four From Big 12 On Preseason Watch List For Ted Hendricks DE Award

There are national awards for seemingly every position on the field in college football, and Big 12 is well represented in practically all of the preseason watch lists, including the Ted Hendricks Award for defensive ends.

By Chip Rouse

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Frank Alexander of Oklahoma
Frank Alexander of Oklahoma

Four of the Big 12 Conference's best at defensive end have been selected to the preseason watch list for the annual Ted Hendricks Award.

Brandon Harold of Kansas State, senior Frank Alexander of Oklahoma, senior Jacquies Smith of Missouri and Texas junior Alex Okafor, are among 35 student athletes from across the  country who are under consideration for the award. 

 Former Texas Longhorn Brian Orakpo is the only player from the Big 12 to = receive the Hendricks Award (in 2008). Orakpo is now in the NFL.

The criteria used to determine candidates for the Hendricks Award include on-field performance, an exceptional winning attitude, leadership abilities, and contributions to school, and community and academic preparedness. The voting committee for the award consists of national media, head coaches, professional scouts and former winners of the award.

The Ted Hendricks Award is named in recognition of college football's first three-time first-team All-American. Hendricks played defensive end at the University of Miami and went on to star in the NFL for the Baltimore Colts, Green Bay Packers and Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. He was fifth in the balloting for the 1968 Heisman Trophy and is enshrined in both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.