MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State football team continues to be recognized on national football award watch lists, as redshirt senior Brandon Martin (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) has been tabbed to the 2021 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List. The award is presented annually to the top defensive player in college football.
The 2021 watch list features 90 defensive standouts from 61 schools in all 10 Division I FBS conferences plus independents and includes seven returning players from last season's FWAA All-America team.
In 2020, Martin became the first BSU player named Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year since punter Brad Maynard in 1996 and the Cardinals' first traditional defensive player to win the award since linebacker Greg Garnica did it three straight years from 1987-89.