2011 JOHN MACKEY AWARD PRESEASON WATCH LIST

Bethpage, N.Y. (July 6, 2011) - The 2011 John Mackey Award preseason watch list has been released by the Nassau County Sports Commission.  Given annually to the best collegiate tight end, the award recipient is selected by vote of the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. The 2011 John Mackey winner will be presented live at the Home Depot ESPN College Football Awards Red Carpet Show on December 8, 2011 at 6pm EST on ESPNU.  NFL Hall of Fame member John Mackey is considered to be the best to have played the tight end position.  A tight end by whom all others are measured, Mackey was a role model on and off the field as demonstrated by his Super Bowl Championship, his commitment to community and his place in history as the first President of the NFLPA. The John Mackey Award presented since 2000, lists ten NFL players as alumni: Dallas Clark ('01) of the 2006 Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts, two-time Super Bowl Champion Daniel Graham ('02), Kellen Winslow II ('03) of the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, two-time Super Bowl Champion Heath Miller ('04) of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Marcedes Lewis ('05) of the Jacksonville Jaguars, 2008 Super Bowl Champion Matt Spaeth ('06), Fred Davis ('07) of the Washington Redskins, Chase Coffman ('08) of the Cincinnati Bengals, Aaron Hernandez ('09) of the New England Patriots and the 2010 John Mackey Award recipient D.J. Williams of the Green Bay Packers.                      2011 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List

The Nassau County Sports Commission, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization sponsored by Briarcliffe College, is responsible for the administration of the John Mackey Award and the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. For additional information, please visit www.nassausports.org. .   National College Football Awards Association The John Mackey Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association's official websitewww.ncfaa.org.