Ole Miss DE Princely Umanmielen Named to Bednarik Award Preseason Watch List

PHILADELPHIA – (Release) Ole Miss football senior defensive end Princely Umanmielen has been named to the Chuck Bednarik Award preseason watch list, as announced by the Maxwell Football Club on Monday.

Umanmielen is among 90 total defenders nationally and one of 21 from the SEC selected to the watch list for the Bednarik Award, which has been presented annually to the college defensive player of the year since 1994.

The award is named in honor of Chuck “Concrete Charlie” Bednarik who was an All-American at Penn and later a multiple year All-Pro linebacker and center for the Philadelphia Eagles. He is a member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame and was the last NFL player to be a full-time player on both offense and defense.

Umanmielen enters his first season at Ole Miss as another key addition in the Rebels’ No. 1 rated transfer class. The senior defensive end comes to Oxford from Florida, where he had a career season with the Gators in 2023 with 39 tackles while leading the team in both TFL (11.5) and sacks (7.0). The 2023 All-SEC second team honoree also registered a team-high 17 quarterback hurries. In his four-year career with Florida, Umanmielen amassed 24.5 tackles for loss and 15 sacks in 45 career games.

Semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced Nov. 12, while the three finalists will be unveiled Nov. 26. The winner of the 30th Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 12. The formal presentation of the Chuck Bednarik Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards on Fri., March 14, 2025 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Bednarik Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935.

Sixteen NCFAA members are unveiling preseason watch lists over a two-week period as the association spearheads a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates. Following is the remaining 2024 preseason watch list calendar:

Tues., Aug. 13: Butkus Award

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

Adam Brown

Adam Brown joins The Rebel Walk as the Managing Editor after being on the Ole Miss beat as a Sports Editor for over 11 years. He is a lifelong Oxford resident. Brown graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Prior to The Rebel Walk, Brown was the sports editor of HottyToddy.com covering every Ole Miss sport and local high school sports in the community.