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Wisconsin Sports Network and WisSports.net are happy to announce Oak Creek's Drew Braam as the 2023 recipient of the John Anderson Award as the most outstanding senior linebacker in Wisconsin, part of the WSN Senior Football Awards.

Drew Braam of Oak Creek is among the state leaders with 146 tackles this season, no surprise for a player that has 364 tackles in his four-year varsity career.

A returning All-Conference player, he was not only All-Conference but also recognized as the Southeast Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He recorded 20 tackles for loss, three sacks, three fumble recoveries, two interceptions, and a defensive touchdown.

"He is the leader of our defense and calls all of our plays," said head coach Joel Paar. "I have been coaching at Oak Creek since 1997 and he is the best linebacker here in nearly 20 years."

Braam was a WFCA First Team All-State choice and has accepted a preferred walk-on offer from Wisconsin.

Finalists for the award were Braam, Brock Arndt of Appleton North, Landon Gauthier of Bay Port, Jonathan Ksobiech of Kettle Moraine, Sam Pilof of Middleton, and Talan Summers of Franklin.

Past winners include Arrowhead's Derek Landisch (2010), Wisconsin Rapids' Vince Biegel (2011), Green Bay Southwest's Nathan Paup (2012), Mukwonago's Dominic Cizauskas (2013), Wausau West's Jake Whalen (2014), Menomonie's Mason Stokke (2015), Bay Port's Matt Lorbeck (2016), Catholic Memorial's C.J. Goetz (2017), Grantsburg's Leo Chenal (2018), Marquette's Riley Nowakowski (2019), Xavier's Mac Strand (2020), Kaukauna's Will Campbell (2021), and Bay Port's Josiah Azure (2022).

The award is named after John Anderson, a former Waukesha South standout who received All-Conference and All-State recognition on both offense and defense for the Blackshirts. He would go on to star for the University of Michigan for four seasons where he twice earned All-Big Ten honors. Anderson would be selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft and go on to a successful 12-year career. Upon his retirement he was the Packers all-time leader in tackles with 1,020 (the Packer only have stats compiled since 1975) and still holds that record today. He was named to the NFL's All-Decade team for the 1980's and the Packers Hall of Fame in 1996.

The voting panel for the WSN Senior Football Awards consisted of:  Travis Wilson, WSN General Manager and Head Football Writer;  Norbert Durst, WSN Content Manager; Dennis Semrau, ESPN Madison; Bob Brainerd, Thursday Night Throwdown broadcaster; Jimmie Kaska, Civic Media; Dan Barwick, WSN Contributor; Colton Wilson, WSN Content Producer; Fan Vote

Travis Wilson serves as the WisSports.net General Manager, Football Editor, and contributing writer for other parts of the site. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisWSN.

For the latest and most up to date football news and recruiting information, follow Travis on Twitter @travisWSN. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Travis at travis(at)wissports.net.