Waimea High School graduate Jordon Dizon joined Colorado senior inside linebacker Thaddaeus Washington as candidates for the 2006 Butkus Award Watch List last week. Dizon is among 64 candidates for the prestigious award named after linebacker Dick Butkus. Dizon, now
Waimea High School graduate Jordon Dizon joined Colorado senior inside linebacker Thaddaeus Washington as candidates for the 2006 Butkus Award Watch List last week.
Dizon is among 64 candidates for the prestigious award named after linebacker Dick Butkus.
Dizon, now a junior, made the watch list for the first time this year while Washington was on the list as a junior in 2005. He enters the field at 6 feet at 215 pounds.
According to the Colorado Buffaloes Web site, Dizon first started for the Buffs since as a true freshman in 2004 and has been doing it ever since. Last season he started all 13 games and tied for fifth on the team with 61 tackles.
With 143 career tackles entering his junior year, Dizon is poised to become the 100th player in school history to record at least 150 tackles in a career.
Statistics from the NCAA Division I football Web site credits the former Menehune football player with 24 assisted tackles in the 2005 season ending Jan. 4, 2006.
Additionally, Dizon has tallied 42 solo tackles and three sacks for losses of 42 and 36 yards, respectively. He had one defense on a pass in the 2005 season.
Brian Cabral is no stranger to having his linebackers listed as candidates for the Butkus Award, states the Buffs’ Web site.
Since he started as a graduate assistant in 1989, 12 linebackers have been nominated for the award a total of 16 times. Of those, Alfred Williams and Matt Russell won the award in 1990 and 1996, respectively, with Ted Johnson named a runner-up in 1994.
“It says a lot about Coach Cabral,” Dizon said on the Web site. “From day one to now, everything for him is toughness. He will never be satisfied with anything. He is so hard to play for but he is the best guy you will ever know as a coach. He will pick on details until they are right. He’s one of those coaches who are hard to get along with and hard to play for but he will get you where you have to go.”
Darla Abbatiello, Dizon’s mother, said he was home during the summer and helped coach his former Waimea High School during the team’s summer camp.
“It was like he never left,” Darla said the coaches told her. “He went every day and taught the boys some things they never knew. But the coaches said it was like he was still playing for Waimea. It’s nice that Jordon makes time to give back like that.”
The Butkus Award is named after Dick Butkus and is the most prestigious award a linebacker in collegiate football can receive.
Established in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, Fla. the recipient of the award is chosen by a selection committee whose members are familiar with the collegiate football scene.
The Butkus Award Watch List will be trimmed to 10 semi-finalists on Oct. 19. On Nov. 9, the semi-final list will be cut to three finalists and the winner will receive his trophy on Dec. 9 at the Butkus Award Gala in Orlando, Florida.
The Buffaloes open their 2006 season on Sept. 2 against Montana State.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
