Palko was named a preseason candidate for the Maxwell Award, annually presented to the collegiate player of the year. Blades is up for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the outstanding defensive player of the year.
Each award watch list is comprised of 60 candidates compiled by the Maxwell Football Club Advisory Committee. Twelve semifinalists for each award will be announced in October and the field will be trimmed to three finalists in November. The winners of the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will be announced at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show that will be broadcast on ESPN in December 2006.
The formal presentation of the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will take place at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Banquet in March 2007. Two previous Pitt players have been honored with the Maxwell Award – running back Tony Dorsett in 1976 and defensive end Hugh Green in 1980.
I guess they are good for the resume. Mel Kiper, Jr. also listed H.B. Blades as the #2 Inside Linebacker in his rankings by position for seniors (Insider subs).
Well, it looks like Gray will do a couple of private workouts after all. It also means he is going to go down to the wire with the decision (Insider subs).
Gray’s father, Mike, said that his son will work out for New York (picks No. 20 and 29 in the first round) on Thursday and Washington (No. 18) on Friday.
Gray said he hasn’t heard from Portland, which has the No. 30 pick, despite a few mock drafts on the Internet that had the Blazers selecting him.
Mike Gray said a decision will come Saturday at the earliest. The deadline to withdraw from the draft is Sunday.
“It’s still 50-50,” Mike Gray said.
Mike Gray said the team workouts won’t be the deciding factor.
“The whole issue is his senior year,” Mike Gray said of Aaron deliberating on going back for his final year of college, where he could be the preseason Big East player of the year.
Both NY and DC are not long drives from where his family lives in Emmaus, PA. NYC is 90 miles. It’s a 225 mile trip to DC from there. Or just drive in to Philly and catch the trains. Do the whole father-son bonding thing and talk a lot about the decision during the traveling.
