Manti Te'o, already a finalist for four postseason awards, will add another ceremony to his December tour. The Notre Dame senior captain was named a finalist for the Maxwell Award, given to the nation's top collegiate player, as well as the Bednarik Award, given to the nation's top defensive player.
Te'o is joined by Texas A&M and Kansas State quarterbacks Johnny Manziel and Collin Klein as Maxwell finalists. South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones are the other finalists for the Bednarik Award.
Among the awards Te'o is also a finalist for are the Nagurski Trophy (best defensive player), Lombardi Award (best linebackerlineman), Campbell Trophy (top scholar athlete) and Senior CLASS Award (top student athlete). He also has a good chance of being named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, a rarity for a defense-only player.
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Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said he thinks Te'o should win the Heisman Trophy, but added there hasn't been much dialogue between coach and player about the award.
"The only thing we talked about is that he's going to be with me after the USC game quite a bit because we've got a lot of banquets and awards shows to be at," Kelly said Sunday. "So the only thing that I've talked to him about is that we have a hope that we'll be in New York together in a couple of weeks."
Additionally, despite a down year in terms of receptions and yards, Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert was named a finalist for the Mackey Award, given to the nation's best tight end. Eifert led FBS tight ends in receptions and yards in 2011 and was a Mackey finalist, but only has 40 receptions for 555 yards in 2012.
Stanford's Zach Ertz and Washington's Austin Seferian-Jenkins are the other finalists for the Mackey Award.