Senior defensive back Allen Langford and junior tight end Garrett Graham were named first-team all-Big Ten by a vote of the league's media, the conference announced Monday. Langford and Graham were two of the 15 Badgers honored when the Big Ten announced its annual awards.
Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis became the third Big Ten player to earn back-to-back defensive player of the year honors, while Iowa running back Shonn Greene was named the offensive player of the year.
Penn State's Joe Paterno collected his third Dave McClain coach of the year award from the media.
Langford tied for the league lead with 11 passes defended during Big Ten conference play, ranking second in all games with 14. Graham's 4.2 receptions per game and 52.5 receiving yards per game in conference play led the league's tight ends.
Graham and Langford were named second-team all-conference by the Big Ten coaches. Joining them on the coaches' second team were sophomore wide receiver David Gilreath, senior guard Kraig Urbik, senior defensive tackle Mike Newkirk and sophomore strong safety Jay Valai.
Urbik was a consensus second-team selection as he was the lone Badger to appear on the media's second team. Newkirk earned honorable mention honors from the media. Senior fullback Chris Pressley was named a Big Ten sportsmanship award honoree.
Eight other Badgers earned honorable mention. Junior running back P.J. Hill, senior guard Andy Kemp, senior linebacker DeAndre Levy, senior defensive end Matt Shaughnessy, senior tackle Eric Vanden Heuvel and freshman kicker Philip Welch were all consensus choices. Senior linebacker Jonathan Casillas and senior defensive tackle Jason Chapman were honorable-mention choices by the coaches.
