Aug. 23, 2006
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -
Illinois State seniors Laurént Robinson and Cameron Siskowic were two of the 32 players chosen by The Sports Network as part of the watch lists for the 2006 Walter Payton and Buck Buchanan Awards on Wednesday.
The list marks the first step toward recognizing the 20th Walter Payton Award, presented annually to the top player in I-AA football, and the 12th Buck Buchanan Award, which goes to the top defensive player in I-AA. The honors will be presented at the 20th annual I-AA College Football Awards on Thursday, December 14th. The Eddie Robinson Award, honoring I-AA's top coach, and the Sports Network Cup, bestowed upon the nation's best I-AA mid-major program, will also be presented on Dec.14th.
Robinson and Siskowic were each on the final ballot last season and are two of the 10 players returning to the initial list in 2006. Robinson finished 10th in the Payton voting in 2005 and Siskowic placed 13th in the Buchanan. The Redbirds have had a top three finisher in the Buchanan voting in each of the last four seasons.
Robinson is coming off his best season as a Redbird. The Rockledge, Fla., native collected 1,465 yards on 86 catches and 12 touchdowns in 2005, while earning the Gateway Offensive Player of the Year honors and gaining consensus all-America accolades.
In addition, Robinson enters the 2006 season needing only 26 catches, 431 yards and a single touchdown, to surpass the current record holder, Rickey Garrett, in every Redbird receiving category.
Siskowic, the 2005 leading tackler in the Gateway, started all 11 games for the Redbirds at the strong side linebacker position. He finished with 132 total tackles, including 55 solo stops, while averaging 12 tackles per game.
