NCSU's Mario Williams added to the Walter Camp Award watch list

Posted Thursday, August 18, 2005

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Raleigh, N.C. - NC State junior defensive end Mario Williams has been named to the 2005 Walter Camp Football Foundation "players to watch" list for its prestigious Player of the Year award, the nation's fourth-oldest individual college football accolade. Williams was one of 40 players named, but is only one of nine defensive players on the list.

The 6-7, 290 pound Williams led the nation's top-ranked defense with 15 tackles for loss as a sophomore last season. He has also been named the preseason National Defensive Player by Blue Ribbon College Football, and and is a preseason candidate for the Bronko Nagurski, Lombardi and Bednarik Awards.

The Walter Camp watch list will be narrowed to ten semi-finalists in early November. The 2005 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 119 Division I-A head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced on the ESPN/Home Depot College Football Awards Show in December. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation's annual national awards banquet on February 11, 2006 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.

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 - 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.