 
2007 Football Banquet
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas Longhorns football team took a break from their preparation for the Holiday Bowl on Friday night by honoring some of its own for their contributions on the field, as well as in the classroom and the community. Four seniors were named the 2007 official team captains - Dallas Griffin, Tony Hills, Derek Lokey, and Frank Okam. Griffin and Hills shared the Outstanding Offensive Lineman award, both winners for the first time. Griffin, Hills and Lokey also were honored with the D. Harold Byrd Leadership Award, which is voted on by members of the team. Hills, who earned first-team All-America honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation, was awarded the American Airlines D.X. Bible Most Team Spirited honor by his teammates. Griffin, after winning the Draddy Trophy on Tuesday, was the recipient of the Lan Hewlett Academic Award. After sharing defensive line duties for the past two seasons, Lokey and Okam shared the Outstanding Defensive Lineman award for the second consecutive year. Lokey was also honored with the Coca-Cola Community Service Award and the Most Consistent Defensive Player award. The program also included awards at each position group. On the defensive side of the ball, Brian Orakpo, Aaron Lewis and Lamarr Houston were named the team's Outstanding Defensive Ends. The Outstanding Linebacker award was shared by Rashad Bobino, Robert Killebrew and Scott Derry. For Bobino and Killebrew, this was the second consecutive year they took the honor.
The Outstanding Defensive Backs were another quartet of seniors, with Brandon Foster, Marcus Griffin, Erick Jackson and Drew Kelson sharing the honor. Foster and Griffin also shared the Mike Campbell Most Valuable Defensive Player award. Deon Beasley, Jared Norton and Ryan Palmer shared the Lowe's Most Improved Defensive Player honor. The Outstanding Defensive Newcomers were Sam Acho, Sergio Kindle and Rod Muckelroy. Offensively, Jamaal Charles took home the Clyde Littlefield Outstanding Offensive Back award for the third consecutive year. Charles was also named the Darrell K. Royal Most Valuable Offensive Player and shared the George "Hook" McCullough MVP award with Colt McCoy. In addition, McCoy was also named the Outstanding Quarterback for the second time in his career. Limas Sweed was named one of the team's Outstanding Wide Receiver award recipients for the third straight year, this time he shared the award with Nate Jones. Do-it-all players Quan Cosby and Chris Hall were honored with the Most Consistent Offensive Player award. Jermichael Finley took home the Outstanding Tight End honor. The Lowe's Most Improved Offensive Player honorees were Jordan Shipley and Charlie Tanner. The Outstanding Offensive Newcomer award was shared by freshmen John Chiles, Michael Huey, Blaine Irby and Vondrell McGee. Members of the special teams were also honored on Friday night as Ryan Bailey and Cosby were named the Frank Denius Most Valuable Special Teams Players. Seven Valor Awards were also given out at the program. This year's recipients of the award were Will Harvey, Thomas Marshall, Ishie Oduegwu, Chris Ogbonnaya, Billy Pittman, Greg Smith and Luke Tiemann. Several players shared the Frank Medina Rehabilitation Award sponsored by Pacificare, as Cedric Dockery, Eddie Jones, Lewis, Muckelroy, Orakpo, Shipley, Sweed, Tiemann and Adam Ulatoski all shared the award. Roy Miller and Ulatoski shared the Joseph W. Moore Award for Tenacity, while Cosby was named the Longhorn Club Sportsmanship Award winner and Drew Kelson received the Roy Williams-Joe Jamail Leadership Award. 2007 Awards Outstanding Offensive Linemen Coca-Cola Community Service Award Outstanding Defensive Linemen Most Consistent Defensive Player Dr. Nasser Al-Rashid Strength & Conditioning Awards Outstanding Tight End Joseph W. Moore Award for Tenacity Longhorn Club Sportsmanship Award Most Consistent Offensive Players Frank Medina Rehabilitation Award sponsored by Pacificare Outstanding Wide Receivers Outstanding Quarterback Outstanding Offensive Newcomers Outstanding Defensive Newcomers Lowe's Most Improved Defensive Players Outstanding Defensive Ends Outstanding Linebackers Outstanding Defensive Backs Lowe's Most Improved Offensive Players Clyde Littlefield Outstanding Offensive Back Roy Williams Joe Jamail Leadership Award Valor Awards American Airlines D.X. Bible Most Team Spirited Frank Denius Most Valuable Special Teams Player D. Harold Byrd Leadership Award Mike Campbell Most Valuable Defensive Player Darrell K. Royal Most Valuable Offensive Player George "Hook" McCullough MVP Team Captains Award |
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