Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1157192
2 0 1 9 K I C K O F F S P E C I A L A W A R D W A T C H Sophomore wide receiver K.J. Hamler found his way to his third preseason watch list with a berth on the Paul Hornung Award list for the most versatile player in major-college football. Hamler, who was a finalist for the Hornung Award last season, has also been named to the Maxwell Award and Biletnikoff Award preseason watch lists. In addition, head coach James Franklin was re- cently named to the Dodd Trophy preseason watch list. Seven additional Nit- tany Lions have been named to preseason watch lists. They include senior linebacker Cam Brown: Butkus Award (nation's top linebacker); senior punter Blake Gillikin: Ray Guy Award (nation's top punter), Allstate AFCA Good Works Team; senior defensive tackle Robert Windsor: Nagurski Tro- phy (National Defensive Player of the Year), Outland Trophy (best college football interior lineman); junior defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos: Nagurski Trophy, Bednarik Award (National Defensive Player of the Year), Lott IMPACT Trophy (National Defensive Player of the Year on and off the field); junior center Michal Menet: Rimington Trophy (top center); sopho- more tight end Pat Freiermuth: Mackey Award (outstanding collegiate tight end); and sophomore linebacker Micah Parsons: Nagurski Trophy, Bednarik Award, Butkus Award. ■ gets hit, he gets back up. But if he doesn't get hit, he's gone. That's very similar to Tony Pollard. "I think he's going to have a great year on kickoff returns and punt returns. I think he's really special." Given his on-field productivity as both a wide receiver and return specialist, Hamler appears set to make a major im- pact on the program's success this sea- son. He's determined to help the Nittany Lions as a leader, too, and while he wants his actions to do much of the talking for him, he's still going to speak his mind. "I just talk about everything," Hamler said. "I'm very open with my answers. I'm very blunt with my answers. If I have something on my mind and I want to say it, I'm going to say it. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. There's no sugarcoating in life. I'm going to tell you the real, I'm going to tell you the truth of how I feel about it. If you don't accept it, you don't accept it. That's how it is." ■