Mortensen, Herford named preseason all-Big 12
Kansas seniors Joe Mortensen and Marcus Herford were named Thursday to the preseason all-Big 12 football team, as voted on by the media.
Mortensen, an all-Big 12 first team selection at linebacker a season ago, finished ninth in the conference in tackles per game (8.15) and tied for second in tackles for loss per game (1.15) as the Jayhakws finished 12-1 and earned their first BCS bowl victory in school history.
Herford, meanwhile, was the only other Kansas player to earn preseason all-conference honors. His 28.65 kickoff return average in ’07 ranked second in the Big 12 and 15th nationally, and he was voted the Big 12’s special teams player of the year following the season.
The team’s only unanimous selection was Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree, who caught 134 passes for 1,962 yards and 22 touchdowns in ’07.
Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel was voted the conference’s preseason offensive player of the year. Oklahoma defensive end Auston English earned the defensive player of the year nod, and Colorado freshman running back Darrell Scott was projected as the newcomer of the year.
2008 Preseason All-Big 12 Football Team (Media Vote)
OFFENSE
WR: Michael Crabree (), Texas Tech, sophomore
TE: Chase Coffman, Missouri, senior
OL: Duke Robinson, Oklahoma, senior
OL: Phil Loadholt, Oklahoma, senior
C: Jon Cooper, Oklahoma, senior
OL: Louis Vasquez, Texas Tech, senior
OL: Colin Brown, Missouri, senior
OL: Cedric Dockery, Texas, senior
WR: Jeremy Maclin, Missouri, sophomore.
QB: Chase Daniel, Missouri, senior.
RB: Marlon Lucky, Nebraska, senior
RB: DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma, sophomore
PK: Jeff Wolfert, Missouri, senior
KR: Marcus Herford, Kansas, senior
DEFENSE
DL: Auston English, Oklahoma, junior
DL: Ian Campbell, Kansas State, senior
DL: George Hypolite, Colorado, senior
DL: Brian Orakpo, Texas, senior
LB: Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri, junior
LB: Joe Mortensen, Kansas, senior
LB: Joe Pawelek, Baylor, junior
DB: Nic Harris, Oklahoma, senior
DB: William Moore, Missouri, senior
DB: Jamar Wall, Texas Tech, junior
DB: Jordan Lake, Baylor, junior
P: Justin Brantly, Texas A&M, senior
PR: Jeremy Maclin, Missouri, sophomore
Denotes unanimous choice.
An extra offensive lineman was honored due to ties in the voting.
Offensive Player of the Year: Chase Daniel, Missouri (QB, 6-0, 225, Sr/3L, Southlake, Texas)
Defensive Player of the Year: Auston English, Oklahoma (DE, 6-3, 257, Jr/1L, Canadian, Texas)
Newcomer of the Year: Darrell Scott, Colorado (TB, 6-2, 215, Fr/HS, Ventura, Calif.)
Reesing lands on another watch list
Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing landed on his second watch list of the off-season Thursday when he was named as a potential contendor for the Davey O’Brien Award.
The junior from Austin, Tex., was one of 31 college quarterbacks named to the list, which annually honors the nation’s top signal-caller.
Reesing threw for 3,486 yards and 33 touchdowns as a sophomore last season, while completing 61.9 percent of his passes and breaking 21 school records in the process.
Last month, Reesing was named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award.
Brown to be honored by Packers
Former Kansas lineman Gilbert Brown will be inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame during the organization’s 38th induction ceremony on Saturday.
A former second-team all-Big Eight performer with the Jayhawks, Brown went on to play 10 seasons with the Packers, from 1993-99 and from 2001-2003. Brown played in 15 playoff games with the Packers, finishing his career with 292 tackles in 125 games.