PROVO, Utah – BYU junior tight end Matt Bushman was named to the 2019 Mackey Award watch list on Friday.
Given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end, the award recipient is selected by vote of the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. The 2019 Mackey Award recipient will be announced on December 11, 2019 and then presented live on December 12, 2019 at The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show on ESPNU.
A Tucson, Arizona, native, Bushman was BYU's leading receiver the past two seasons. In 2018 he made 29 receptions for 511 yards while averaging 17.6 yards per catch during the season—the top average per reception among FBS tight ends. During his freshman season, Bushman led all FBS Division I freshman tight ends with 49 receptions and 520 yards en route to earning Freshman All-America accolades from USA Today Sports, the Football Writers Association of America and 247Sports.
Former Consensus All-American Dennis Pitta was a Mackey Award finalist in 2009. Bushman has recorded the most production from a BYU tight end since Pitta caught 62 balls for 829 yards and eight touchdowns that season.
NFL Hall of Fame member John Mackey is considered to be the best to have played the tight end position. A tight end by whom all others are measured, Mackey was a role model on and off the field as demonstrated by his Super Bowl Championship, his commitment to community and his place in history as the first President of the NFLPA.
Presented since 2000, the John Mackey Award recognizes 15 alumni that have played in the NFL, including two-time Super Bowl Champion Daniel Graham (‘01), 2006 Super Bowl Champion Dallas Clark (‘02), Kellen Winslow II (‘03), two-time Super Bowl Champion Heath Miller (‘04), Marcedes Lewis (‘05) of the Green Bay Packers, 2008 Super Bowl Champion Matt Spaeth (‘06), Fred Davis (‘07), Chase Coffman (‘08), D.J. Williams (‘10), Dwayne Allen (’11) of the Miami Dolphins, Tyler Eifert (’12) of the Cincinnati Bengals, Austin Seferian-Jenkins (’13), Nick O’Leary (’14) of the Miami Dolphins, Hunter Henry (’15) of the Los Angeles Chargers, Jake Butt (‘16) of the Denver Broncos, Mark Andrews (’17) of the Baltimore Ravens and 2018 John Mackey Award recipient T.J. Hockenson of the Detroit Lions.
More information on the Mackey Award can be found at www.johnmackeyaward.com.