Dec. 7, 2004

LAS VEGAS - UNLV defensive back Jamaal Brimmer closed his stellar college career by becoming just the fourth two-time All-American in school history Tuesday when he earned a second team nod by The Sporting News.

The consensus Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003 finished his senior campaign this fall by becoming the Rebels' second-ever three-time first team all-conference honoree.

Despite missing significant playing time at the end of the season because of an injury, Brimmer ranked second on UNLV with 51 solo tackles and finished seventh in the MWC with 8.2 tackles per game. His two forced fumbles moved him into second all-time at UNLV and in MWC history with nine. His 280 career tackles put him fifth all-time at UNLV and he was named MWC Defensive Player of the Week for third time in his career after posting nine tackles, one forced fumble, one pass breakup and one interception that he returned for 24 yards to set up a score in a win at BYU.

The only other Rebel to earn All-American recognition more than once since the school moved to Division One in 1978 was punter/quarterback Randall Cunningham in 1983-84. Before that, defensive lineman Joe Ingersoll (1974-75) and running back Mike Thomas (1973-74) both twice earned "Little College All-American" status.

Brimmer, a 6-1, 215-pound graduate of Durango High School, was a 2004 preseason first team selection by Athlon and for the second straight season was on the official watch lists for both the Jim Thorpe Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.

The second-team honor was the highest any Rebel football player has received in the postseason from The Sporting News. Former cornerback Kevin Thomas was tabbed fourth team by the publication in 2001. Brimmer was a first team All-America selection by College Football News after the 2003 season and was this season was the first All-American to return to UNLV for another season since Cunningham in 1984.

Other MWC players to be honored by TSN were Utah quarterback Alex Smith (first team), who was also the magazine's 2004 national player of the year, BYU punter Matt Payne (first team), Utah WR Steve Savoy (second team) and San Diego State LB Kirk Morrison (second team).

THE SPORTING NEWS 2004 ALL-AMERICANSFIRST TEAMOffense(Pos., Name, Team, Ht., Wt., Class)WR, Taylor Stubblefield, Purdue, 6-1, 182, Sr.WR, Braylon Edwards, Michigan, 6-3, 206, Sr.TE, Heath Miller, Virginia, 6-5, 255, Jr.T, Alex Barron, Florida State, 6-6, 308, Sr.T, Jammal Brown, Oklahoma, 6-6, 313, Sr.G, Sam Mayes, Oklahoma State, 6-3, 330, Sr.G, Elton Brown, Virginia, 6-6, 338, Sr.C, Ben Wilkerson, LSU, 6-4, 300, Sr.QB, Alex Smith, Utah, 6-4, 212, Jr.RB, J.J. Arrington, California, 5-11, 210, Sr.RB, Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma, 6-2, 210, Fr.
DefenseE, Ryan Riddle, California, 6-3, 250, Sr.E, Mathias Kiwanuka, Boston College, 6-8, 249, Jr.T, Mike Patterson, USC, 6-0, 290, Sr.T, Jesse Mahelona, Tennessee, 6-2, 300, Jr.LB, Derrick Johnson, Texas, 6-4, 235, Sr.LB, A.J. Hawk, Ohio State, 6-1, 238, Jr.LB, Ahmad Brooks, Virginia, 6-4, 249, So.CB, Corey Webster, LSU, 6-0, 197, Sr.CB, Marlin Jackson, Michigan, 6-1, 199, Sr.SS, Thomas Davis, Georgia, 6-1, 220, Jr.FS, Antrel Rolle, Miami, 6-1, 202, Sr.
SpecialistsK, Mike Nugent, Ohio State, 5-10, 180, Sr.P, Matt Payne, BYU, 6-4, 234, Sr.KR, Devin Hester, Miami, 5-11, 185, So.PR, Reggie Bush, USC, 6-0, 200, So.
SECOND TEAMOffenseWR, Mark Clayton, Oklahoma, 5-11, 187, Sr.WR, Steve Savoy, Utah, 5-11, 191, So.TE, Zach Miller, Arizona State, 6-4, 245, Fr.T, Rob Petitti, Pittsburgh, 6-6, 335, Sr.T, Marcus McNeill, Auburn, 6-9, 340, Jr.G, David Baas, Michigan, 6-5, 307, Sr.G, Dan Buenning, Wisconsin, 6-4, 313, Sr.C, Vince Carter, Oklahoma, 6-3, 289, Sr.QB, Matt Leinart, USC, 6-5, 225, Jr.RB, Cedric Benson, Texas, 6-0, 225, Sr.RB, Carnell Williams, Auburn, 5-11, 204, Sr.
DefenseE, David Pollack, Georgia, 6-3, 276, Sr.E, Matt Roth, Iowa, 6-4, 270, Sr.T, Rodrique Wright, Texas, 6-5, 305, Jr.T, Shaun Cody, USC, 6-4, 295, Sr.LB, Lance Mitchell, Oklahoma, 6-3, 244, Sr.LB, Michael Boley, Southern Miss, 6-3, 228, Sr.LB, Kirk Morrison, San Diego State, 6-2, 240, Sr.CB, Ko Simpson, South Carolina, 6-2, 180, Fr.CB, Domonique Foxworth, Maryland, 5-11, 178, Sr.SS, Jamaal Brimmer, UNLV, 6-1, 215, Sr.FS, Junior Rosegreen, Auburn, 6-0, 196, Sr.
SpecialistsK, Tyler Jones, Boise State, 6-1, 198, Sr.P, Brandon Fields, Michigan State, 6-6, 234, So.KR, Ashlan Davis, Tulsa, 5-8, 177, Jr.PR, Ted Ginn, Ohio State, 6-0, 170, Fr.