Florida State Defensive End Bjoern Werner Named Connecticut Player of the Year

Former Salisbury School standout Bjoern Werner, a junior defensive end from Florida State University, is also a member of the Walter Camp All-America First Team. He is the third player to earn both honors.

NEW HAVEN, CT – Former Salisbury School standout Bjoern Werner, a junior defensive end from Florida State University, has been named by the Walter Camp Football Foundation as its 2012 “Connecticut Player of the Year.”

Awarded annually to the top college football player who is a resident and/or played scholastically in the state of Connecticut, the Connecticut Player of the Year is selected by the all-volunteer membership of the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

Werner was also selected to the Walter Camp All-America First Team. It is the third time that the Connecticut Player of the Year also made the organization’s All-America team. In 2001, former Syracuse and current Indianapolis Colts’ defensive end Dwight Freeney was recognized. In 1983, BYU and future NFL All-Pro quarterback Steve Young was honored.

“We are pleased to recognize Bjoern Werner as our Connecticut Player of the Year,” Foundation president John Marks said. “Bjoern has been a defensive force for the Seminoles and we are honored to recognize him for his outstanding season.”

A 6-foot, 4-inch, 255-pound defensive end, Werner started all 12 games for the 12th-ranked and Atlantic Coast Conference champion Seminoles (11-2), who will play Northern Illinois in the Discover Orange Bowl on January 1.
A consensus All-America selection, Werner led the ACC with 13 sacks and was second with 18 tackles for loss. His 13 sacks put him in a tie for second nationally. The leader of the Seminoles’ defensive unit that ranks second in the nation in total defense (253.7 yards allowed per game), Werner had 40 tackles and also broke up seven passes on his way to being named ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

A native of Berlin, Germany, played three years of club football with Berlin Adler in Germany and two at The Salisbury School, which plays in the Erickson Football Conference. At Salisbury, he played defensive end and tight end and was heavily recruited as a four-star prospect by Scout.com.

Werner, along with his fellow members of the 2012 Walter Camp All-America team, will be recognized at the organization’s national awards banquet on Saturday, January 12, 2013 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven. In addition, the Foundation will recognize three individuals – former Nebraska head coach and Athletic director Tom Osborne, former NFL player and coach Herm Edwards and NFL All-Pro Derrick Brooks – with major awards. The Foundation is offering a “Holiday Ticket Promotion” for the National Awards Dinner. Buy two tickets for $400 (you save $150) before December 31. Please call (203) 288-CAMP (288-2267).

Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.

Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp — a former Yale University athlete and football coach — is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation — a New Haven based all volunteer group — was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All America team.