July 31, 2008
MANHASSET, N.Y.--University of Arizona sophomore tight end Rob Gronkowski has been named to the watch list fot eh 2008 John Mackey Award for the nation's best collegiate tight end.
The watch list was 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 and announced in mid-December.
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.
Gronkowski, UA's promising big man in the receiving rotation, caught 28 passes as a true freshman in 2007, piling up 525 yards to lead the Wildcats with an 18.8-yard average per catch. He snagged six scoring passes. His yards after catch rate with any UA player in the spread offense, with an ability to break tackles and pull away in the open field.
He earned freshman All-America honors from a number of outlets. He's on the list along with fellow Pac-10 players Ed Dickson of Oregon and Logan Paulsen of UCLA.
He joins a number of Wildcats on preseason watch lists including UA senior quarterback Willie Tuitama for the Maxwell and O'Brien awards, junior offensive tackle Eben Britton for the Outland Trophy, senior receiver Mike Thomas for the Maxwell Award and sophomore punter Keenyn Crier for the Ray Guy Award. Senior place kicker Jason Bondzio also is expected to contend for the Lou Groza Award.
The John Mackey Award presented since 2000, lists seven NFL players as alumni: Dallas Clark ('01) of the 2007 Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts, two-time Super Bowl Champion Daniel Graham ('02) of the Denver Broncos, Kellen Winslow II ('03) of the Cleveland Browns, Heath Miller ('04) of the 2006 Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, Marcedes Lewis ('05) of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Matt Spaeth ('06) of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the 2007 John Mackey Award recipient Fred Davis of the Washington Redskins.
2008 John Mackey Award Watch List
PLAYER - YEAR -SCHOOL
Travis Beckum - SR - Wisconsin
Nate Byham - JR - Pittsburgh
James Casey - SR - Rice
Tripp Chandler - SR - Georgia
Chase Coffman - SR - Missouri
Jared Cook - JR - S. Carolina
Jeff Cumberland - JR - Illinois
Ed Dickson - JR - Oregon
Richard Dickson - JR - LSU
Jermaine Gresham - JR - Oklahoma
Dan Gronkowski - SR - Maryland
Rob Gronkowski - SO - Arizona
Anthony Hill - SR - NC State
Darius Hill - SR - Ball St
Cornelius Ingram - SR - Florida
Branden Ledbetter - SR - W Michigan
Jeron Mastrud - JR - Kansas St
Tony Moeaki - SR -Iowa
Shawn Nelson - SR - S Miss
Bear Pascoe - SR - Fresno St
Logan Paulsen - SR - UCLA
Brandon Pettigrew - SR -Oklahoma St
Dennis Pitta - JR - BYU
Ryan Purvis - SR - Boston College
Andrew Quarless - JR - Penn St
Mike Ragone - SO - Notre Dame
Cody Slate - JR - Marshall
Kory Sperry - SR - Colorado St
Sam Wheeler - JR - Virginia Tech
Zeek Zacharie - SR - ULM
