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Oklahoma's Gabe Brkic Makes Groza Watch List

Sooner' junior kicker has been named to All-America lists and was first-team All-Big 12, but he's never been a finalist for award as college football's top kicker.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma's Gabe Brkic Makes Groza Watch List
Oklahoma's Gabe Brkic Makes Groza Watch List /

Oklahoma kicker Gabe Brkic, a two-time semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, is on the preseason watch list this year.

Brkic was among 30 candidates in line for the trophy that goes to the best kicker in college football.

Brkic, a junior from Chardon, OH, made 20-of-26 field goals during his sophomore season (in just 11 games) and was among the nation’s leaders in field goals per game — just one year after going 17-of-17 on field goals as a redshirt freshman.

In 2019, Brkic earned first-team All-America honors from CBS Sports, and was named Freshman All-America by The Athletic and the FWAA after taking over the starting job two games into the season.

Brkic was first-team All-Big 12 last year (both coaches and media) when he converted a school-record four kicks from 50 yards or longer, including a 54-yarder against Iowa State — the fourth-longest in school history and the longest since 1990.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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