Turtledroppings.com – Maryland Football And Basketball Blog

In a season where expectations are low, there are a few bright spots as we start to look forward to the 2012 season.  Joe Vellano may be Maryland’s shining star this season.  We know it, but the nation is starting to take notice as well.  So far Vellano has been listed on three of College Football’s award watch list.

He was first named to the Bednarik Award list, which is awarded to the best defensive player in the country.  More recently he was added to the Bronco Nagurski list and the Outland Trophy list.  The Nagurski award is also for the best defensive player voted by the Football Writers Association of America.  The Outland is for the best interior lineman.

Each award list around 70 players and cuts will be made as the season progresses.  Even if Maryland struggles as I feel they will, Vellano gives the Terps some national exposure that is important to show recruits they can make an impact at Maryland and be successful.  Congratulations Joe!  I know who I will be paying a little more attention to as I watch the games this season.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 15th, 2012 at 6:16 am and is filed under Maryland Terps Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.