UNC Football: Chazz Surratt named to Bednarik Award watch list

Chazz Surratt, the quarterback turned linebacker for the North Carolina Tar Heels, has been named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list. The Bednarik Award is given to the College Defensive Player of the Year by The Maxwell Football Club each year.

Last year in his first year as a linebacker, he led UNC with 115 total tackles. That tally was second in the ACC. Surratt’s 15 tackles for loss were a team-best and fifth-most in the conference. He had 6.5 sacks and 10 QB hurries in 2019, along with one interception that sealed the return of the Victory Bell to Chapel Hill.

Named for Chuck Bednarik, a member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, he was a standout collegiate player for Penn. He was selected with the first choice in the 1949 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. Bednarik was a two-time NFL Champion, named to eight Pro Bowls, and a ten-time first-team All-Pro selection. Most recently, he was named to the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

The Bednarik Award is chosen by “NCAA Head College Football Coaches, members of the Maxwell Football Club and sportswriters and sportscasters from across the country.”

Since 1995, the Bednarik Award has been presented 25 times. Julius Peppers is the only Tar Heel and one of only two ACC players to earn the award.