Aug. 18, 2006
ATLANTA–Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson is one of 35 players named to the preseason watch list for 2006 Walter Camp Player of the Year award, announced Friday by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
The Walter Camp Player of the Year award is nation’s fourth-oldest individual college football accolade.
The watch list will be narrowed to ten semi-finalists in early November. The 2006 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 January 13, 2007 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven, Conn.
Johnson, the junior all-America from Tyrone, Ga., was honored by the Walter Camp Foundation last fall with selection as a second-team all-America. He earned first-team all-America honors from the American Football Coaches’ Association, as well as second-team recognition by the Associated Press. He is the 48th first-team all-America football player in Georgia Tech history.
Entering his junior season, Johnson has been named to numerous preseason all-America teams and is the consensus choice as the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year.
The 6-5, 235-pounder led the Yellow Jackets in 2005 with 54 receptions for 888 yards and six touchdowns. In his first two season, he has totalled 102 catches, 1,725 yards and 13 touchdowns to rank seventh in Tech history in career receiving yards, 10th in recpetions and tied for sixth in touchdown receptions.
Johnson and the Yellow Jackets open the season Sept. 2 by hosting third-ranked Notre Dame in a nationally televised contest at 8 p.m. at Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field.
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