Two Horned Frogs on Nagurski Watch List
TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes and linebacker Daryl Washington appear on the 2009 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, announced Tuesday by the Football
Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.
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TCU is one of just 11 schools to have more than one player on the list of
candidates.
Hughes was one of five finalists for last year's Bronko Nagurski Trophy,
awarded annually to the nation's best defensive player.
A consensus All-American in 2008, Hughes also appears on preseason watch
lists for the Chuck Bednarik Award, Rotary Lombardi Award, Ted Hendricks
Award, Lott Trophy and Walter Camp Player of the Year.
The senior from Sugar Land, Texas, led the nation last season with 15 sacks
and six forced fumbles. He also placed in the top 10 in tackles for loss
(19.5) and fumble recoveries (three) while adding two interceptions,
including one returned for a touchdown.
Hughes earned National Defensive Player of the Week honors from the Walter
Camp Football Foundation and the FWAA/Bronko Nagurski Trophy after his four
sacks and two forced fumbles in a 32-7 win over then-No. 8 BYU.
Washington, a senior from Irving, Texas, is TCU's top-returning tackler
after totaling 63 stops a year ago.
In TCU's 17-16 Poinsettia Bowl victory over Boise State, Washington posted
six tackles, including one for loss, and three pass breakups. He was the
Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week in a win at Colorado
State.
As a sophomore in 2007, Washington tied for the national lead with three
punt blocks.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been presented since 1993 and is awarded in
memory of the legendary Nagurski, an All-America lineman at Minnesota in
1927-29 and a star for the Chicago Bears in the 1930s.