K-State Linebacker named to Butkus Award watch list

Manhattan, Kan. (K-State Sports Information)–Kansas State senior linebacker Arthur Brown was named to his third preseason watch list on Monday as he is a candidate for the 2012 Butkus Award, which is presented to the nation’s best linebacker, the Butkus Foundation announced.

Brown, who was named to the Bednarik Award and Nagurski Trophy watch lists last week, picked up K-State’s eighth preseason honor as Collin Klein (Maxwell), Nigel Malone (Bednarik, Nagurski, Thorpe) and BJ Finney (Rimington) have also been named to preseason watch lists. The eight honors by K-State for major college football awards are the most since the 2000 squad also had eight. The 1998 team holds the school record at 12.

A native of Wichita, Kan., and former transfer from the University of Miami, Brown was one of 51 players nationally named to the watch list for the Butkus Award, which includes three other Big 12 linebackers. Brown, who was also a preseason candidate for the award last year, adds to a long list of Wildcats who have been candidates for the Butkus Award as his distinction is the 20th in school history. Of the 20, four have reached semifinal status for the honor, including 1999 runner-up and 2012 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Mark Simoneau.

Brown’s multiple honors this offseason is due to the year he turned in during his first season in Manhattan. As a junior, Brown was one of the Big 12’s best linebackers as he carded 101 tackles, including 9.5 for loss, and he helped lead the Wildcats to a 10-3 record and an appearance in the AT&T Cotton Bowl. The linebacker picked up numerous distinctions following the 2011 campaign, including All-America honors from Sports Illustrated and Big 12 Defensive Newcomers of the Year accolades from the league’s coaches, Associated Press, Kansas City Star, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and ESPN.com.

The fourth annual K-State Family Reunion kicks off the 2012 season on September 1 as the Wildcats host Missouri State.