July 2, 2004
LAS VEGAS - UNLV's Greg Estandia was one of 26 players named to the official watch list for the 2004 John Mackey Award, which is given each year to college football's best tight end, the Nassau County (N.Y.) Sports Commission announced Friday.
Estandia, a huge target at 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, was named one of the nation's top 125 junior-college players coming out of Moorpark College in his hometown of Moorpark, Calif. Last year, his first with the Rebels, he played in all 12 games and finished fourth on the team with 20 receptions for 234 yards and three touchdowns. Also a weapon blocking kick attempts, he was named the Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on September 1 after blocking a field-goal attempt to help UNLV down Toledo in the 2003 season opener.
The John Mackey Award, which announced its first winner in 2000, is named in honor of the Nassau County native, who is an NFL Hall of Famer, Super Bowl champion with Baltimore and was the first president of the NFL Players Association.
The winner of the award will be announced in early December and will receive his trophy at the NCSC Annual Awards Dinner in April 2005. Last year's winner, Miami's Kellen Winslow II, was selected sixth overall in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.
2004 JOHN MACKEY AWARD WATCH LIST
PLAYER YR SCHOOLHeath Miller JR VirginiaAndy Roland SR DukeMatt Herlan JR NebraskaVictor Sesay JR MissouriJoe Klopfenstein JR ColoradoDavid Thomas JR TexasClark Harris JR RutgersRyan Hamby JR Ohio StateAnthony Fassano JR Notre DameAndrew Clarke SR ToledoTyson Devree JR Western MichiganDavid Jones JR LSUCaleb Blankship SR TulsaTory Humphrey SR Central MichiganMatt Bartz JR Colorado StateJeremy Justice SR San Diego StateDaniel Coats SO BYUGreg Estandia SR UNLVAlex Holmes SR USCTroy Bienerman JR Washington StateTim Day JR OregonGarrett Cross JR CaliforniaJon Lyon SR WashingtonMarcedes Lewis JR UCLACooper Wallace JR AuburnDuncan Reid SR Fresno State
