Wisconsin football: Leo Chenal named team MVP

Don’t really know what all to do with the information from the Wisconsin Badgers football team’s annual end-of-season banquet but, uh, here are the winners of the 14 different team awards from the 2021 season!

Jimmy Demetral Team MVP

Presented annually to the player most instrumental to the success of the team, as selected by his teammates and coaches.

• Leo Chenal

Offensive Player of the Year

Presented annually to the top player on offense, as selected by the coaching staff.

• Braelon Allen

Defensive Player of the Year

Presented annually to the top player on defense, as selected by the coaching staff.

• Jack Sanborn

Special Teams Player of the Year

Presented annually to the most valuable player on special teams, as selected by the coaching staff.

• Collin Larsh

Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Ivan Williamson Scholastic Award

Presented annually to a player who has been exemplary in the areas of scholarship and sportsmanship.

• Jack Dunn

Rookie of the Year

Presented to the player who, in his debut season, made a major impact on the success of the team.

• Braelon Allen

Comeback Player of the Year Award

Presented to the player who overcame injury or other obstacles to play a key role in the team’s success.

• Matt Henningsen

Wayne Souza Offensive Impact Award

Presented annually to the offensive player who has contributed to the team’s success to the best of his abilities. It is based upon improvement, attitude and willingness to help the program in all areas.

• Jake Ferguson

Jay Seiler Defensive Impact Award

Presented annually to the defensive player who has contributed to the team’s success to the best of his abilities. It is based upon improvement, attitude and willingness to help the program in all areas.

• Faion Hicks, Scott Nelson, Collin Wilder

Special Teams Impact Player of the Year

Presented to the players whose contributes made significant impacts on the success of the special teams units.

• Travian Blaylock

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

Tom Wiesner Award

Presented annually to a Wisconsin-born student-athlete whose loyalty, hard work, spirit and dedication are unselfishly directed to the success of the team. The award is given in memory of Wiesner, a Wisconsin football letterwinner (1958-60).

• John Chenal

Badger Power Award

Presented annually to the player that consistently performs at a high level in all aspects of the strength and conditioning program. An individual who has a great work ethic coupled with a positive attitude that garners the respect of teammates, is dependable, buys into the program and shows constant improvement.

• Aaron Witt

Otis Green Manager Award

Presented annually to a student manager whose leadership, dedication and work ethic led to the success of the football program. The award is given in memory of former team manager Kevin “Otis” Green.

• Bryce Ternus

Captains Cup

Presented annually to an individual, other than a player or coach, who has shown tremendous dedication and unselfish commitment toward the betterment of the football program.

• Barry Alvarez

Chenal has been named first-team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association and second-team All-America by the Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, The Sporting News and Walter Camp Football Foundation. Allen has also made a number of Freshman All-America teams for his performance at running back.

I don’t understand how Chenal can be the overall team MVP and not be the recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year but maybe they were just trying to spread the love around since there were multiple players worthy of winning DPOY. Nice to see Barry Alvarez finally get some recognition from the football team. It’s about damn time!

The Badgers also recognized their school-record 50 Academic All-Big Ten selections from this year.