Crist, Hawkinson, Opurum named captains of KU football team

By Matt Tait     Apr 24, 2012

Nick Krug
Kansas quarterback Dayne Crist gets down with the offensive line behind the sled as the unit runs through drills during practice on Tuesday, April 10, 2012.

Kansas University football coach Charlie Weis revealed after Tuesday’s practice that the Jayhawks had voted seniors Dayne Crist, Tanner Hawkinson and Toben Opurum as captains for the 2012 season.

Crist, a quarterback, and Hawkinson, his left tackle, are first-time captains. They earned the title of co-captains for the offense when the vote was what Weis dubbed, “too close to call.”

Opurum, a defensive end, was a landslide pick and will serve as a team captain for the second straight season.

Weis said the only parameters placed on the vote was that offensive guys voted for offensive guys, defensive guys voted for defensive guys and specialists voted for one or the other.

The timing of the vote was a little earlier than KU’s players were used to and Weis said that was because he believed his team was in need of an extra dose of leadership in light of recent off-the-field issues that led to the dismissal of a handful of players.

In addition to the tri-captains, a special teams player will serve as a the fourth captain each week during the regular season. Weis said the fourth captain would earn his spot by standing out during the previous week’s game. 

For more, including reaction to the selections, see tomorrow’s Journal-World or check back with KUsports.com.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.