The Maxwell Award has been presented to the outstanding collegiate football player in America since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert W. “Tiny” Maxwell. The Chuck Bednarik Award has been presented since 1995 and is named in honor of Chuck Bednarik, a former University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Eagle great. Mr. Bednarik is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame (1969) and the NFL Hall of Fame ('67). Each list is comprised of 65 players who were selected based on their performance during the 2006 season.
Brady Quinn of the University of Notre Dame was the recipient of the 70th Maxwell Award and Paul Posluszny of Penn State University was awarded the 12th Chuck Bednarik Award for their outstanding performance during the 2006 season. Posluszny, currently a member of the Buffalo Bills, was a two time Bednarik Award winner. Pat Fitzgerald the current Head Football Coach at Northwestern University was the only other two time winner of the Bednarik Award.
Semifinalists for the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will be announced in early November and three finalists for each award will be announced November 26th. The winners of the 2007 Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 6. The formal presentation of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Harrah’s Entertainment Atlantic City in March 2008.
The watch list candidates have been chosen by the Maxwell Football Club’s Selection Committee and the Maxwell Club reserves the right to make additions and subtractions to these lists as the 2007 season unfolds. All members of the Maxwell Football Club, NCAA Sports Information Directors, Head Coaches and selected national media are eligible to vote for these awards.