Texas State’s Athlete Named To John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List

John Mackey is an NFL Hall of Fame member who is considered to be the best to have played the tight end position.

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Friends of John Mackey announced Tuesday that Texas State University senior tight end Gabe Schrade was named to the Preseason Watch List for the 2017 John Mackey Award.

A preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection by Lindy’s Sports, Schrade was placed on the list after catching 25 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns in his first season as a full-time starting tight end in 2016.

Schrade opened last season catching a career-high six passes for 72 yards in Texas State’s triple overtime victory at Ohio. In that game, he caught a shovel pass from Tyler Jones for the game-deciding points in the third overtime period. Schrade also had four receptions for 61 yards and two touchdowns against Incarnate Word and four catches for 62 yards at ULM.

He served as Texas State’s team captain as a junior and was one of three Texas State students to receive the inaugural LBJ Civic Leadership Award in 2017 and earned an Oak Farms Dairy “Cream of the Crop” award in 2017 and an Academic Achievement award in 2014. He also was named to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List after maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher in 2013-14.

Schrade is one of three tight ends from the Sun Belt Conference and one of three players from schools in Texas on this year’s Mackey Watch List.  

Presented annually since 2000, the John Mackey Award winner is presented to the most outstanding collegiate tight end and selected by a vote of the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. The recipient will be announced on December 6 and presented live on December 7, 2017 at The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show on ESPNU.

John Mackey is an NFL Hall of Fame member who is considered to be the best to have played the tight end position. Mackey was a role model on and off the field as demonstrated by a Super Bowl Championship, his commitment to the community and his service as the first president of the NFL Players Association.