Oklahoma football: DaShaun White on preseason watch for the Butkus Award
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma football linebacker DaShaun White is a preseason candidate for the 2020 Butkus Award.
The OU junior is one of 51 college players named to the 2020 watch list for the award, which recognizes the most outstanding linebacker at the high school, college and professional levels of football.
Three former Oklahoma players are previous recipients of the Butkus Award, which was first presented in 1985. The winner that year was former Sooner All-American Brian Bosworth, who was a two-time winner, capturing the Butkus Award in 1986, as well.
Other OU Butkus winners were Rocky Calmus in 2001 and Teddy Lehman in 2003.
White was the Sooners fourth leading tackler in 2019 with 52 total, 32 of them of the solo variety. He was credited with 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack and one fumble recovery. He registered a season-high nine tackles in Oklahoma’s one point, 42-41, win over Iowa State.
The 6-foot, 224-pound linebacker was a four-star prospect from North Richland Hills, Texas, a suburb of Ft. Worth, and a member of OU’s 2018 recruiting class.
White is one of seven Big 12 players who are preseason candidates for this year’s Butkus Award. The others are Terrel Bernard of Baylor, Riko Jeffers of Texas Tech, Amen Ogbongbemiga and Malcolm Rodriguez of Oklahoma State, Joseph Ossai of Texas and Garret Wallow of TCU.
"“When a player receives the Butkus Award, he will know two things,” wrote NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus, the namesake of the award. “First, he is recognized as the best linebacker in America. Second, and in the long run most important, he will understand that his recognition brings a responsibility to serve others by giving back.”"
The 2020 Butkus Award winner will be announced at the end of the regular season and recognized at the annual ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show in December.