MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Nov. 11, 2024) – West Virginia University senior long snapper Austin Brinkman has been named one of 10 semifinalists for The Patrick Mannelly Award, named after former NFL long snapper Patrick Mannelly.
The 2024 season is the sixth year for the award and will be presented to the player judged to be the best FBS long snapper.
Brinkman handles the Mountaineers’ snapping duties for punting, field goals and extra points. He has been the long snapper for West Virginia since the 2021 season and has started all 46 games in which he has played.
Brinkman was recently named to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Midseason All-American team. He also is an Academic All-Big 12 Conference First Team selection for three straight years and been named to numerous All-Big 12 Conference Commissioner’s Honor Rolls and WVU’s Garrett Ford Academic Honor Rolls.
Brinkman was the WVU Coaches Special Teams Champion in 2021 for the Texas game, the BYU game in 2023 and the Oklahoma State game in 2024.
The award, created in 2019, benefits Bernie’s Book Bank, a non-profit organization located in Lake Bluff, Illinois.
The list of 10 semifinalists are listed below. The list will be narrowed to three finalists and announced on Nov. 25, 2024. The three finalists will be invited to the award presentation dinner on Saturday, December 14, 2024 outside Chicago with the winner selected at the live award ceremony.
Patrick Mannelly Award Semifinalists
Name School
Austin Brinkman West Virginia
Beau Gardner Georgia
Ben Anderson Oklahoma
Ethan Hudak Tulane
Hunter Rogers South Carolina
Julian Ashby Vanderbilt
Kneeland Hibbett Alabama
Rocco Underwood Florida
Ryan Wintermeyer San Diego State
William Wagner Michigan
Press Release Courtesy of West Virginia University Athletics Communications
