LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV senior wide receiver and kick returner Tyleek Collins (Atlanta, GA/Hapeville Charter Academy) is one of 57 players on the 2021 Paul Hornung Award Watch List presented by Texas Roadhouse, which was announced Thursday.
 
Now in its 12th year, the award goes out annually to the most versatile player in major college football from the Louisville Sports Commission in honor of the late football legend Paul Hornung. The winner will be honored at the annual Paul Hornung Award dinner in Louisville in March 2022.
 
Collins enters the season ranked second among active Rebels with nine career touchdowns and has led the team twice in kickoff returns and punt returns during his career, including both categories last fall. Overall, he has 647 receiving yards, 173 rushing yards, 734 kickoff return yards and 54 punt return yards as a Rebel. As a freshman, he became just the fourth UNLV player to post four receiving touchdowns in one game, which broke the program's rookie record.
 
Hornung, who passed away in his hometown at age 84 on Nov. 13, 2020, played every position in the offensive backfield during his career with the Irish in the 1950s and also played defensive safety, punted, placekicked and returned kickoffs. He was named All-America at quarterback as a senior and won the Heisman Trophy in 1956, then was the first player selected in the NFL draft, going to Green Bay. He earned NFL MVP honors for the Packers in 1961 as a triple-threat halfback and placekicker by setting a single-season NFL scoring record that stood for 46 years.
 
The 2021 Watch List was compiled by a panel of college football experts based on a combination of 2020 statistics, career performance, SID recommendations and expectations heading into the 2021 season.