MOUNT PLEASANT - Central Michigan senior Jahleel Addae has been named to the Preseason Watch List for the Jim Thorpe Award given to the nation's best defensive back in college football.

Addae (Valrico, Fla./Riverview) tied for the Mid-American Conference lead with four interceptions in 2011, ranked eighth in tackles per game (8.9) and ninth in total tackles (107). He was named a First Team All-MAC selection while also being named to Phil Steele's All-MAC first team.

He recorded 10-plus tackles in five games, including a career-high 18 versus Northern Illinois. Addae also recorded a career-high two interceptions and forced a fumble in the victory over the eventual MAC champion Huskies.

The Thorpe Award is named after history's greatest athlete, Jim Thorpe, and is presented by the Jim Thorpe Association in Oklahoma City. Thorpe excelled at every sport in which he competed, including football at which he played on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. The 2012 Olympics mark the 100-year anniversary of Thorpe winning gold in the decathlon and pentathlon at the Stockholm Olympics.

A screening committee who compiles a list of 30-40 players each year chooses the Jim Thorpe Award watch list. The list is not final and players who have outstanding seasons are added as the season progresses. The Thorpe Award winner is selected from three finalists and will be announced at The Home Depot College Football Awards on December 6, 2012 on ESPN.

The Jim Thorpe Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the section of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association's official website, www.NCFAA.org.