Temple University Athletics
Football's Wright Named to Hornung Award Watch List
7.25.19 | Football
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Louisville Sports Commission today named 44 multi-talented college football players to the 2019 Watch List for the Paul Hornung Award presented by Texas Roadhouse. That list includes Temple senior wide receiver/return specialist Isaiah Wright.
The Paul Hornung Award, now in its 10th season, is given annually to the most versatile player in major college football and is named after football legend and Louisville native Paul Hornung. Players on this year's Watch List accounted for 15,343 rushing yards, 18,538 receiving yards, 14,401 kickoff return yards, 2,897 punt return yards and 323 total tackles in 2018. Reminiscent of Hornung during his playing days, members of the Watch List demonstrated a knack for scoring numerous ways. Last season the Watch List players combined for 316 total touchdowns in six different ways – rushing; receiving; passing; and returning punts, kickoffs and interceptions.
"This award, which was created in my name, has earned a special place in college football," said Paul Hornung, the 1956 Heisman Trophy winner who played every position in the offensive backfield during his Notre Dame career and was a triple-threat halfback and placekicker for the title town Green Bay Packers of the early 1960s. "I'm pleased that we are able to acknowledge outstanding players who contribute any way possible to help their teams win, the same way I did."
Wright earned first-team All-America honors as a return specialist in 2018 and was the American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year. He has made nearly every 2019 preseason first-team All-American Team list as well. He is one of only two players to record three kick/punt return touchdowns in 2018 and also shares the lead over the past two seasons with five scores.
A threat to score every time he touches the ball, Wright scored five different ways in 2017 (rush, receiving, punt return, kickoff return, and threw a two-point conversion) becoming just the sixth FBS player in a decade to do that. Since 2000, only three players have scored at least one rushing, receiving, punt return and kickoff return touchdown in the same season twice but only Wright (2017-18) and Jeremy Macklin (2007-08) have done it in consecutive seasons.
The winner and his family will be honored at the annual Paul Hornung Award dinner to be held at the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville on March 4, 2020. This will be The Paul Hornung Award's third year as an associate member of the National College Football Awards Association.
The 2019 Watch List is comprised of 13 seniors, 27 juniors and four sophomores who play a total of eight different positions. They represent 44 universities in 27 states coast-to-coast across the 10 conferences that are part of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), as well as one independent school.
The 2019 Watch List was compiled by a panel of college football experts based on a combination of 2018 statistics, career performance, SID recommendations, and expectations heading into the 2019 season. Information about the award can be found at www.paulhornungaward.com. Players will be added to the Watch List during the 2019 regular season based on performance.
The Paul Hornung Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 25 awards now boast more than 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about the association.
Wright joins Temple LB Shaun Bradley (Bednarik Award, Nagurski Trophy), OL Jovahn Fair (Outland Trophy), OL Matt Hennessy (Rimington Award, Wuerffel Trophy), LB Chapelle Russell (Butkus Award), QB Anthony Russo (Maxwell Award), and TE Kenny Yeboah (Mackey Award) as Owls who have earned Watch List selections in 2019.
The Paul Hornung Award, now in its 10th season, is given annually to the most versatile player in major college football and is named after football legend and Louisville native Paul Hornung. Players on this year's Watch List accounted for 15,343 rushing yards, 18,538 receiving yards, 14,401 kickoff return yards, 2,897 punt return yards and 323 total tackles in 2018. Reminiscent of Hornung during his playing days, members of the Watch List demonstrated a knack for scoring numerous ways. Last season the Watch List players combined for 316 total touchdowns in six different ways – rushing; receiving; passing; and returning punts, kickoffs and interceptions.
"This award, which was created in my name, has earned a special place in college football," said Paul Hornung, the 1956 Heisman Trophy winner who played every position in the offensive backfield during his Notre Dame career and was a triple-threat halfback and placekicker for the title town Green Bay Packers of the early 1960s. "I'm pleased that we are able to acknowledge outstanding players who contribute any way possible to help their teams win, the same way I did."
Wright earned first-team All-America honors as a return specialist in 2018 and was the American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year. He has made nearly every 2019 preseason first-team All-American Team list as well. He is one of only two players to record three kick/punt return touchdowns in 2018 and also shares the lead over the past two seasons with five scores.
A threat to score every time he touches the ball, Wright scored five different ways in 2017 (rush, receiving, punt return, kickoff return, and threw a two-point conversion) becoming just the sixth FBS player in a decade to do that. Since 2000, only three players have scored at least one rushing, receiving, punt return and kickoff return touchdown in the same season twice but only Wright (2017-18) and Jeremy Macklin (2007-08) have done it in consecutive seasons.
The winner and his family will be honored at the annual Paul Hornung Award dinner to be held at the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville on March 4, 2020. This will be The Paul Hornung Award's third year as an associate member of the National College Football Awards Association.
The 2019 Watch List is comprised of 13 seniors, 27 juniors and four sophomores who play a total of eight different positions. They represent 44 universities in 27 states coast-to-coast across the 10 conferences that are part of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), as well as one independent school.
The 2019 Watch List was compiled by a panel of college football experts based on a combination of 2018 statistics, career performance, SID recommendations, and expectations heading into the 2019 season. Information about the award can be found at www.paulhornungaward.com. Players will be added to the Watch List during the 2019 regular season based on performance.
The Paul Hornung Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 25 awards now boast more than 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about the association.
Wright joins Temple LB Shaun Bradley (Bednarik Award, Nagurski Trophy), OL Jovahn Fair (Outland Trophy), OL Matt Hennessy (Rimington Award, Wuerffel Trophy), LB Chapelle Russell (Butkus Award), QB Anthony Russo (Maxwell Award), and TE Kenny Yeboah (Mackey Award) as Owls who have earned Watch List selections in 2019.
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