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After another competitive year for collegiate defensive ends, the
Ted Hendricks Foundation is proud to announce the winner of the 2007
Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award. In all, 25 players
received votes in this year’s preliminary round of voting, just three
short of last year’s record number. And for the first time in the
Award’s history, three players from the NCAA’s Football Championship
Subdivision were included in the voting process. One of these outstanding
players was voted a finalist. We would like to congratulate all of
our candidates for their terrific performances this season.  Chris Long of the University of Virginia is this year’s winner. Long claimed more than 60% of the final-round votes – a new record for the Hendricks Award. The Atlantic Coast Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, Chris Long led the ACC and was third in the NCAA – FBS in sacks (14.0). This sack total equaled or surpassed the total recorded by 12 NCAA teams. Long also led his conference with 19.0 tackles-for-loss (tied for 8th in NCAA). One-quarter of Long’s 75 tackles this season were made behind the line of scrimmage. Long’s accolades this season include: - First-Team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association - First-Team All-America honors from Rivals.com - First-Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors - Finalist for the Lott, Lombardi and Nagurski Awards - Two-time ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week. At Virginia, Long has been a two-time team captain. He is perhaps best known for his high-energy, relentless play on the field, which often wears down his opponents. His career totals include 22 sacks, 43 tackles-for-loss, 15 passes broken up, 69 QB hurries and 183 tackles. In his final regular season home game, the University of Virginia paid tribute to Chris by retiring his #91 jersey. Prior to his Cavalier career, Long was a four-sport athlete (baseball, basketball, football and lacrosse) at St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, VA, where he excelled as a lineman on both offense and defense.  In
announcing the 2007 winner, Ted Hendricks said the following:
"I was proud to have Chris and all of the other men on my list of finalists, and I congratulate Chris on his terrific season. My voters were very definitive in their decision this year, and I don’t think they could have made a better choice. I look forward to watching Chris play in the coming years."
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