Talib Enjoys Two Days Of Nagurski Award Festivities

Dec. 3, 2007

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - While Kansas cornerback Aqib Talib did not win the Bronko Nagurski award Monday night, he did enjoy his two days in Charlotte, N.C. as one of five finalists for the honor.

Glenn Dorsey of LSU claimed the award, given annually to the nation's top defender, after helping the Tigers reach the national championship game. Other finalists included Talib, James Laurinaitis of Ohio State, who won the award last season, Chris Long of Virginia, and George Selvie of South Florida.

Talib's two days in Charlotte included a dinner Sunday night with other Nagurski finalists, former NFL great and two-time college All-American at Michigan State, Bubba Smith, who was being honored with the Legends Award, as well as members of the Charlotte Touchdown Club.

"It was a great experience and it really was an honor to be nominated and have a chance to go to Charlotte with all of those guys," Talib said.

On Monday morning, the finalists and former Carolina Panther Mike Minter, spoke to 400 high school students from around the state of North Carolina as part of a High School Leadership Forum.

The players talked about how they got where they are, the commitment needed to succeed, and their typical daily routines before the students were able to ask questions during the one-hour forum

The moderator of the event was Brett McMillan, a Virginia Tech graduate, who pointed out that Kansas scored 75 points against Nebraska, Minter's alma mater.  Talib was quick to respond "76."

Talib told the students to dream big and to not take anything for granted.  He also talked about how he was determined to prove people wrong after he was not highly recruited out of high school.

Minter told the group that they should take advantage of opportunities and be prepared for life because their life outside of sports will be a lot longer than their life in sports.

In the afternoon, the players visited a children's hospital and were interviewed on a local radio station.

"The best part of the trip was the hospital visit," Talib said.  "It made those kids' days to see us there.  They were amazed to see us and it made us feel good to make them feel special."