DALLAS (FWAA) – Boston College linebacker Anthony Palano posted a career day Saturday against Rutgers, leading his team with nine tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss with two fourth-quarter interceptions that sealed the Eagles’ 28-21 win over in the Red Bandanna Game. For the shut-down defensive play, Palano was selected as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America.
Each week during the regular season, the FWAA has selected a Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week since 2001. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce finalists for the 2026 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Nov. 19. The national defensive player of the year will be chosen from those finalists who are part of the 2026 FWAA All-America Team and presented with the trophy at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet on Dec. 7 at the Charlotte Convention Center, and the winner will also be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards live on ESPN on Dec. 11.
Players may be added or removed from the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list during the course of the season. As in previous years, the FWAA will announce a National Defensive Player of the Week each Tuesday this season. If not already on the watch list, each week’s honored player - including Palano this week - will be added at that time.
Palano, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound junior from Arlington Heights, Ill., also earned the ACC’s Linebacker of the Week award based on Saturday’s efforts. His two fourth-quarter interceptions that preserved the win were the first two picks of his career, and he became the first Eagle since 2023 to record two interceptions in a game. Palano also earned a sack for a 10-yard loss in the second quarter, his first career sack.
Boston College’s defense forced two turnovers on downs and recorded four interceptions, its most in a game since Nov. 3, 2023, against Syracuse.
Palano, a transfer from Washington State in the offseason, was named a team captain ahead of the 2026 season and has made an immediate impact. He posted a team-best 13 tackles in his debut in the Eagles’ loss at Cincinnati on Sept. 5. Palano played in 18 career games at linebacker at Washington State and also at South Dakota State. He had seven starts at linebacker for Washington State, registering 65 tackles, four quarterback hurries and two pass breakups.
Boston College has one winner in its Bronko Nagurski Trophy past, linebacker Luke Kuechly in 2011. Kuechly was also a finalist in 2010. Palano is Boston College’s first Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week.
The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s full membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalists. The trophy winner will be chosen from the four finalists named in November. Committee members, by individual ballot, select the winner they regard as the best defensive player in college football.
The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football, then became a star for professional football’s Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw "Bronko" Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored nearly 1,000 recipients since 1935. Visit NCFAA.org for more information or follow on X at @NCFAA.
The Charlotte Touchdown Club is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1990 for the purpose of promoting high school, collegiate, and professional football in the Charlotte, North Carolina region. Since its inception, the club has grown as well as diversified boasting a sponsor team of more than (80) companies. The Club's activities and services focus community attention on the outstanding Citizenship, Scholarship, Sportsmanship, and Leadership of area athletes and coaches. Through individual and corporate support, more than $3,000,000 has been raised and donated to benefit the Touchdown Club's scholarship efforts.
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Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,200 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.