COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou football's Kentrell Brothers (Guthrie, Okla.) and Michael Scherer (St. Louis, Mo.) each earned a spot on the 31st annual Butkus Award Watch List, as announced by the Butkus Foundation on Tuesday (July 14). The Butkus Award is given to the nation's top linebacker and in all, 51 student-athletes made the list. This is the third preseason watch list for Brothers and the first for Scherer this summer.
Mizzou is one of 13 schools to have multiple honorees on the Butkus Award Watch List this summer and one of four SEC schools (Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee) with multiple honorees. Brothers and Scherer comprise the SEC's top returning tackling duo and the third-best returning tackling duo in the nation from a season ago. The two compiled a combined 236 tackles a season ago.
Brothers, the SEC's top returning tackler from a season ago, accounted for 122 total tackles in 2015 (62 solo, 60 assists) while totaling 5.0 tackles-for-loss, four pass break-ups and a team-leading three forced fumbles. He started all 14 games a season ago and was an All-SEC Second Team pick by the Associated Press. This is Brothers' third major watch list this summer after earning a spot on the Bednarik Award and Nagurski Award Watch Lists last week.
Scherer was just as productive as Brothers a season ago, finishing second on the team with 114 tackles (51 solo, 63 assists). He also had 3.5 tackles-for-loss, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. Scherer started all 14 games for the Tigers a season ago. This is Scherer's first watch list this summer.
The Collegiate Butkus Award watch list includes candidates from 35 universities and eight athletic conferences. Semi-finalists will be named November 2, finalists November 23, and winners will be notified on or before December 8.
The Butkus Award was expanded in 2008 to honor linebackers at three levels while helping spread the word about Butkus' I Play Clean™ initiative which encourages teens to eat well, train hard, and play with attitude instead of resorting to steroids and related drugs. More information is available at www.iplayclean.org and on facebook at i.play.clean.
The Butkus Award, www.thebutkusaward.com and on Facebook at 51.butkus, is presented by the Butkus Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization. The Butkus Award is part of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which includes the 22 most prestigious awards in college football with 700 years of selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org for more information.
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