UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Sophomore wide receiver KJ Hamler (Pontiac, Mich.) was named to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award for the National Player of the Year and junior defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (Spotsylvania, Va.) and sophomore linebacker Micah Parsons (Harrisburg, Pa.) both landed on the preseason Bednarik Award watch list for the National Defensive Player of the Year, which were revealed Monday.
This is the second preseason list for Gross-Matos, who was named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list in May.
Penn State is tied for the national lead among all colleges and universities with its seven Maxwell Award winners. The Nittany Lions' four Bednarik Award recipients are the most of any school in the nation.
The Maxwell Award, named in honor of Robert W. "Tiny" Maxwell, has been given to America's College Player of the Year since 1937. Maxwell's contributions to the game of football were extensive, including time as a player, a sportswriter and an official.
The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995. Chuck Bednarik, former standout at Penn and with the Philadelphia Eagles, is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame's Class of '69 and the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of '67.
Hamler was a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award for the nation's most versatile player and also collected Freshman All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America and The Athletic last season as a kick returner last season. He also earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten accolades as both a wide receiver and return specialist after finishing No. 3 in the conference in kick return average (26.2) and No. 2 in yards per catch (17.95). Hamler ended the season No. 6 in the conference with 109.0 all-purpose yards per game. He pulled in a catch in all 13 games, had six games with four or more receptions and 10 multi-reception games. Hamler had 25 catches of 10 or more yards and pulled in 16 balls for 20 or more yards. He registered a first down on 71 percent (30-42) receptions.
Gross-Matos, who is also on the Lott IMPACT Trophy preseason watch list, claimed first-team All-Big Ten honors from the conference's media last season. The junior finished second in the Big Ten and No. 12 in FBS with 1.5 tackles for loss per game in 2018. He was also eighth in the Big Ten and No. 47 nationally in sacks per game (0.62). Gross-Matos became the 11th Nittany Lion to record 20 tackles for loss in a season (12th occurrence). He is tied with Bruce Clark (1978), Todd Atkins (1994), LaVar Arrington (1999) and Aaron Maybin (2008) for eighth place on Penn State's season tackles for loss list. Against Indiana in 2018, Gross-Matos had a career-high 10 tackles, the most tackles for a Penn State defensive end since Carl Nassib had 10 stops at Temple in 2015.
Parsons was chosen as Freshman All-American by The Athletic, 247Sports and ESPN to go along with his honorable-mention All-Big Ten laurels. He finished the season, leading the Nittany Lions with 83 tackles, becoming the first freshman (true or redshirt) in Penn State history to lead the team in tackles in a season. Parsons had seven games with seven or more tackles and 10 contests with five or more tackles. In Penn State's Citrus Bowl game against Kentucky, he posted a career-high 14 tackles, which ranks No. 13 in Penn State bowl history.
The Nittany Lions' home schedule features three non-conference games and four Big Ten Conference match-ups. The Nittany Lions open the season against Idaho (Aug. 31; 3:30 p.m.), Buffalo (Sept. 7; 7:30 p.m.) and the 100th all-time meeting with Pittsburgh (Sept. 14; noon) in non-conference action. In Big Ten play, Penn State welcomes Purdue (Oct. 5; noon), Michigan (Oct. 19), Indiana (Nov. 15) and Rutgers (Nov. 30) to Happy Valley.
For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and reserving new season tickets for the 2019 Penn State Football season presented by PSECU, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office weekdays from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Nearly 4,500 new season tickets have already been sold for the 2019 campaign.
