Gamecocks' Clowney named Hendricks Award winner - 14 News, WFIE, Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro

Gamecocks' Clowney named Hendricks Award winner

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By Kevin Bilodeau - bio | email

The Ted Hendricks Foundation is proud to announce the winner of the 2012 Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award. In a season that has seen much drama and suspense among the leaders in the NCAA rankings, a rare occurrence has come to pass in the ranks of the defensive end. In fact, this is a first-time occurrence! A sophomore has won the award for the nation's top defensive end.

Jadeveon Clowney of the University of South Carolina is the Award's 11th winner. Clowney claimed nearly two-thirds of the final-round votes, which is a new record. The five other finalists included Morgan Breslin from Southern California, Tank Carradine and Bjoern Werner from Florida State, Sam Montgomery from LSU and Damontre Moore from Texas A&M.

Clowney is a record-setter in several respects this season. In addition to his record vote share for this award, he set new South Carolina standards for sacks in a season (13.0), tackles for loss in a season (21.5) and sacks in a single game (4.5 vs Clemson). All of this came as a follow-up to his extremely successful freshman season, when Clowney totaled eight sacks and 12 tackles for loss. At the conclusion of the 2011 season Clowney was named Southeast Conference Freshman of the Year by the SEC coaches and earned First-Team Freshman All-America honors from seven different media organizations.

Clowney's other football accolades this season include:

- Unanimous Selection to Associated Press All-SEC First Team

- Coaches All-SEC First Team

- Three-Time SEC Lineman of the Week

- AFCA All-America selection

- Sporting News Midseason All-American

Since Sunday of this week, Clowney has kept a busy schedule on the premier football awards circuit. He was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player of the year), the Vince Lombardi Award (top lineman or linebacker) and will be attending the presentation ceremony as a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award (top defensive player).
 
The Rock Hill, S.C. native is no stranger to the attention he is receiving. As a senior at South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, Clowney was generally regarded as the number-one recruit in the nation. He was named South Carolina's "Mr. Football" and entertained scholarship offers from as many as 50 universities. His teammates will tell you that Jadeveon is a dynamic individual off the field - as well as on it. With a flair that fits his personality, Clowney waited until his 18th birthday to make his announcement and sign his National Letter of Intent - all in front of his family, friends and a television audience.

The hype and attention has been matched by a superb performance this season. The Ted Hendricks Foundation is pleased and proud to congratulate Jadeveon Clowney as the 11th recipient of the Ted Hendricks Award.

In announcing the 2012 winner, Ted Hendricks had the following to say:

"Our committee has made another outstanding choice for this year's award. Jadeveon Clowney is an explosive football player who is always in pursuit of the ball. With his extra arm and torso length, as well as outstanding quickness, he is able to shed blockers, fire off the edge and pursue the ball carrier aggressively with purpose. He has a constant motor, a strong work ethic and never seems to tire. He gave opposing blockers nightmares all season. If they blinked, Jadeveon was already past them. I am pleased to add another outstanding student athlete to our Hendricks Award winners. Congratulations to Jadeveon Clowney!"

Formal presentation of the 2012 Ted Hendricks Award trophy will take place at a time and place yet to be determined. The TedHendricks.com website will have details once they are announced. The Ted Hendricks Foundation would like to again thank our selection committee for their continued interest and support. We are looking forward to your participation again next year!