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UW's Molden, Tryon Selected to Thorpe, Butkus Watch Lists

The senior Husky cornerback and junior outside linebacker continue to pile up the preseason honors.
Dan Raley|
UW's Molden, Tryon Selected to Thorpe, Butkus Watch Lists
UW's Molden, Tryon Selected to Thorpe, Butkus Watch Lists

Elijah Molden and Joe Tryon had to update their college football resumes once more.

On Monday, each University of Washington defensive-unit stalwart was named to another preseason watch list — Molden for the Jim Thorpe Award, Tryon for the Dick Butkus Award.

Molden, a senior cornerback from West Linn, Oregon, can be found on the watch lists for the Chuck Bednarik Award and William V. Campbell Trophy, which are bestowed on the nation's top defensive player and most well-rounded athlete and student, respectively.

A first-team All-Pac-12 selection last season, the veteran defensive back also has been named to several preseason All-American teams, drawing first-team recognition from Walter Camp and NFLDraftscout.

Molden is one of 49 players from 10 conferences singled out for Jim Thorpe consideration. He's one of six chosen from the Pac-12, joined by Stanford's Paulson Adebo, California's Camryn Bynum, USC's Talanoa Hufanga and Oregon's Thomas Graham, Jr., and Jevon Holland.

No Washington player has won the Thorpe Award, which has been given out since 1986. Thorpe, who played for Carlisle, was a Native American and a two-way back who was considered possibly the country's greatest athlete over the first half of the 20th century. He died in 1953

Tryon is one of 51 candidates for the Dick Butkus Award, named for the ferocious Illinois and Chicago Bears linebacker and given to the player considered the finest in the nation at that position. 

A junior outside linebacker from Renton, Washington, he earlier was named to first-team All-American by Phil Steele and second-team by The Sporting News.

Tryon is one of eight Pac-12 linebackers up for the award, joined by California's Kuony Deng, Colorado's Nate Landman, Utah's Devin Lloyd, Oregon State's Hamilcar Rashed Jr., Arizona State's Merlin Robertson, Oregon's Isaac Slade-Matautia and Washington State's Jahad Woods. 

No Husky player has won the Butkus Award, which was first given to Oklahoma's Brian Bosworth, a future Seattle Seahawks player, in 1985. 

Butkus, 77, led Illinois to a 17-7 victory over Washington in the 1964 Rose Bowl and an 8-1-1 record. The Pro Football hall of famer was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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