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University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Land Pair on Preseason Watch Lists
7/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 8, 2014
Minnesota tight end Maxx Williams and center Tommy Olson were named to preseason award watch lists today.
Williams is one of 40 tight ends on the John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List. Given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end, the award recipient is selected by vote of the John Mackey Award Selection Committee and the 2014 John Mackey recipient will be announced on December 10, 2014, and then presented live on December 11, 2014 at The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show on ESPNU.
Williams is one of nine sophomores on the list and his stats from 2013 stat up favorably among his peers. Williams leads the sophomore group with five touchdowns, was second in receiving yards (417), third in receptions (25), fourth in yards-per-game (32.1) and yards-per-catch (16.7).
Olson is one of 66 student-athletes names to the Rimington Award Fall watch list, as the award is presented to the nation's top offensive center. The winner will be recognized at the Rimington Trophy Presentation at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Nebraska on Saturday, January 17, 2015.
Olson, who moved from guard to center prior to the 2013 season, started the final four games of last season after Jon Christenson suffered a season-ending injury. Olson excelled at the center position after being named the starter and executed every snap without incident.
Minnesota's last John Mackey Award winner was Matt Spaeth (2006), while Greg Eslinger (2005) was the most recent Gopher to receive the Rimington Award.
