ATLANTA, Ga. – For the second straight season Alabama A&M football has landed a pair of selections on the prestigious Deacon Jones Award Watch List, an honor representing the National Player of the Year from a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and one that the program has claimed each of the past two seasons, as announced by the Black College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday, August 16.
 
Named to the list this year are senior running back Gary Quarles (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) and senior wide receiver Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim (Miramar, Fla.) for their tremendous performances not only last year but throughout their careers. They will look to follow in the footsteps of Bulldog great Aqeel Glass (St. Louis, Mo.) who became the first such winner in program history in Spring 2021 and repeated the effort in Fall 2021. For Ibrahim it marks a second straight year appearing on the list.
 
Both are there for good reason as they have excelled particularly over the past two seasons to help make Alabama A&M's offense one of the most feared at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. They are among just 49 individual selected from 26 HBCU institutions and 13 selections from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
 
GARY QUARLES – FALL 2021 LOOK BACK
Pound-for-pound, one of the best tailbacks at the FCS level, Quarles earned his spot on the list following a Fall 2021 season that saw him drop the hammer on Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) defenses – and the occasional linebacker.
 
He led the league in yards per game (95.5) and rushing touchdowns (10) while finishing third in yards (955), the latter coming in just 10 outings. A staple on the field, the 5-6 running back almost never left the field while carrying 205 times and adding 21 catches for 224 yards. All together he would finish with 1,179 all-purpose yards and notch five rushing touchdowns.
 
Among his tremendous performances was 101 yards and a score in a 30-27 victory at Bethune-Cookman (9/16). That would be a game that aired on ESPNU, was played in a driving rainstorm and earned him SWAC Offensive Player of the Week (9/20), the first of his career.
 
He also delivered a career-high 164 yards and a pair of TDs against Tuskegee (9/25) in Mobile, Alabama and exploded for 162 yards on a career-best 35 carries at Texas Southern (11/13). The latter would see him score a pair of touchdowns and he also caught four balls for a personal best 80 yards to account for 242 scrimmage yards in a thrilling 52-49 victory.
 
Quarles has already been named a First-Team All-SWAC selection and picked up his first BOXTOROW Preseason All-American honor entering the year and has previously been named a BOXTOROW Postseason All-American Honorable Mention.
 
ABDUL-FATAI IBRAHIM – FALL 2021 LOOK BACK
As a 10-time All-American, it makes perfect sense for Ibrahim to land on this list yet again as he gears up for another campaign of terror against secondaries – and any other defensive unit that tries to corral him.
 
In order, his All-American pedigree includes Hero Sports (2019 FCS Freshman), BOXTOROW (Spring 2021 Preseason, Spring 2021 First-Team), American Football Coaches Association (Spring 2021 Second-Team), Hero Sports (Spring 2021 Sophomore), BOXTOROW (Fall 2021 Preseason, Fall 2021 First-Team), Stats Perform FCS (2022 Preseason Third-Team), 2022 BOXTOROW Preseason All-America Team and HERO Sports (2022 Preseason Second-Team).
 
The last five of those stem from an incredible Fall 2021 campaign that saw the former freshman walk-on and tryout player finish as one of just 16 players at the FCS level to hit the 1,000-yard plateau (1,008), ranking No. 15 in the nation. Additionally, he led the SWAC in yards receiving by nearly 100 and also topped the conference with a mark of 100.8 per game as the only player to average triple digits.
 
His 6.7 catches per game and 67 receptions were second and his eight touchdowns were sixth. Nationally, his receiving yards per game ranked fifth with his receptions per game and total receiving yards ranking eighth and 15^th respectively.
 
Ibrahim would be a human-highlight reel throughout the year, 177 yards on eight snags against Tuskegee (9/25), 133 with a career-high 10 catches the following week at Grambling (10/2) and 104 with a score against Alabama State (10/30) in the Magic City Classic. In the final two games of the season he snagged eight balls for 176 yards and a pair of scores - including one from 81 yards out - at Texas Southern (11/13) and 115 yards on seven catches, two of which he would take all the way, against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11/20).
 
Coming into 2022 he has also been named an All-SWAC Preseason First-Team selection along with Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-American Third-Team and BOXTOROW Preseason All-American honors.
 
THE SCHEDULE
After narrowing the field to four following the season, the Black College Football Hall of Fame will announce the 2022 Deacon Jones Award winner on Saturday, February 25. The latter will take place at halftime of the Second Annual HBCU Legacy Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, a game that will feature the best talent from the HBCU ranks and be aired live on NFL Network.
 
UP NEXT
A&M, Quarles and Ibrahim kick off the 2022 season under the lights at Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) member Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) on Thursday, September 1. Stay tuned to www.AAMUSports.com, the official online home of Bulldogs Athletics, for complete coverage of the 2022 season.
 
DEACON JONES AWARD WATCH LIST