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University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Hold Senior Banquet, Distribute Awards
12/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
The University of Minnesota football program held its annual Senior Banquet Sunday afternoon in the DQ Club Room at TCF Bank Stadium. Head coach Tim Brewster and his staff handed out numerous team awards during the ceremony.
The team's most prestigious award - the Bronko Nagurski Award - is given annually to the team's Most Valuable Player. Senior wide receiver Eric Decker was this year's recipient of the Bronko Nagurski Award.
Decker was also presented with the Bruce Smith Award as the team's outstanding offensive player. Decker was also honored with the Tony Dungy Character and Community Service Award.
Senior linebacker Lee Campbell was named the winner of the Carl Eller Award, which goes to the team's outstanding defensive player.
Junior fullback Jon Hoese was honored with the Bobby Bell Award as the team's outstanding special forces player.
Hoese was also one of the team's two winners of the Butch Nash Award for being competitive on the field and in the classroom, taking the honor from the offensive side of the ball. The defensive winner of the Butch Nash Award was senior defensive lineman Garrett Brown.
The Paul Giel Award is awarded to the offensive and defensive players who exemplify unselfishness and the most concern for the University of Minnesota. This year's winners were junior quarterback Adam Weber and junior defensive back Ryan Collado.
The Neil Fredenburg Award goes to the player or players who best represent courage and love of the game. Senior defensive tackle Eric Small shared the award with Campbell for the defense. The offensive winner of the Fredenburg Award was senior tight end Nick Tow-Arnett.
The Outstanding First-Year Players were MarQueis Gray (offense) and D.L. Wilhite (defense). The Scout Team Players of the Year were freshman linebacker Aaron Hill (defense) and freshman offensive lineman Ed Olson Jr. (offense).
In addition to the individual awards noted above, 17 Gophers earned their first varsity letter. Twenty-two Gophers were recognized for their membership on the Big Ten All-Academic Team as well.
In addition to the awards portion of the event, Director of Athletics Joel Maturi and Coach Brewster addressed the crowd. The featured speaker was former Gopher and Minneapolis attorney Lee Hutton III. Radio voice of the Gophers Dave Lee was the master of ceremonies.
-UM-
