Kansas State senior linebacker Arthur Brown has been named one of 12 semifinalists nationally for the 28th Annual Butkus Award honoring the nation’s top linebacker, the Butkus Foundation announced Monday.

Brown is the fifth Wildcat to become a semifinalist for the award and the first since Josh Buhl in 2003. Mark Simoneau, a 2012 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, was the runner-up for the award in 1999, while Jeff Kelly (1998) and Percell Gaskins (1995) were also semifinalists.

A native of Wichita, Kan., Brown is in his second year with the Wildcats after transferring from Miami following his sophomore season. Brown leads the Wildcats and ranks eighth in the Big 12 with 55 tackles, including six for loss and one sack. The senior also became the first player this season to intercept West Virginia’s Geno Smith last week after the Mountaineer quarterback broke an NCAA record of 273 consecutive attempts without a pick earlier in the contest. Brown, who had eight tackles against WVU, was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week.

Brown, who also broke eventual Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III’s streak of 110 attempts without an interception last season, has earned Midseason All-America honors from CBSSports.com and Phil Steele, while he was a Midseason All-Big 12 honoree by ESPN.com.

Third-ranked Kansas State hosts No. 14 ranked Texas Tech this Saturday in a sold-out contest at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m., in FOX’s College Football Game of the Week.
2012 Butkus Award Semifinalists

Steve Beauharnais      Rutgers
Arthur Brown             Kansas State
Jonathan Brown          Illinois
Max Bullough              Michigan State
Gerald Hodges            Penn State
Jarvis Jones                 Georgia
Dion Jordan                 Oregon
Michael Mauti            Penn State
Kevin Minter               LSU
C.J. Mosley                  Alabama
Trent Murphy              Stanford
Manti Te’o                  Notre Dame

— KSU Sports Information —