Brooks Listed as Walter Camp Player of the Year Candidate

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Aug. 17, 2005

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – University of Virginia junior linebacker Ahmad Brooks (Woodbridge, Va.) is a candidate for the 2005 Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, the Walter Camp Football Foundation announced on its preseason list of 40 candidates on Wednesday.

The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists in early November. The 2005 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 119 Division I-A head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced on the ESPN/Home Depot College Football Awards Show in December. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s annual national awards banquet on Feb. 11, 2006, at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.

Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.

A first-team All-American and first-team All-ACC honoree last season as a sophomore, Brooks led the team in tackles and quarterback pressures during his second season as a starter. Named the Defensive Back/Linebacker of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Richmond, Brooks was one of three finalists for the prestigious Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker. He earned the team’s Ned McDonald Award as UVa’s outstanding defensive player. A preseason All-American, Brooks is also a nominee for the Lombardi Award and the Nagurski Trophy.

Virginia kicks off the 2005 season at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3 with Western Michigan at the Carl Smith Center, home of David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium.