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Houston, Texas – August 24, 2007 – With the 2007 college football season set to begin, 65 players have been added to the Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List. The 38th annual Rotary Lombardi Award, presented by Wachovia, honoring the top lineman in college football and benefiting the American Cancer Society, will be presented in Houston on December 5 at the Hilton Americas Hotel.
The new players have been added to the preliminary watch list announced in March based on various pre-season honors. Although the 108 players now on the Watch List are representative of the nation’s top football players, the list is not intended to serve as the actual ballot when first round voting begins in late September.
As recently as 2005, Elvis Dumervil, one of the final four finalists that year, was not included on the Watch List at the start of the season. Any player meeting the basic award criteria – a down lineman on either side of the ball including tight ends, and linebackers who line up within five yards of the ball – is eligible to receive votes.
Unlike last year when the list was fairly evenly divided, this year’s list has more defensive players than offensive players. There are 63 defensive players and 45 offensive players. Following is the complete updated watch list:
Xavier Adibi, LB, Virginia Tech
Jeff Akeroyd, OL, Houston
Sam Baker, OT, USC
Kirk Barton, OT, Ohio State
Tommy Blake, DE, TCU
Alex Boone, OT, Ohio State
Alvin Bowen, LB, Iowa State
Jasper Brinkley, LB, South Carolina
Eben Britton, OL, Arizona
Duane Brown, OT, Virginia Tech
George Bussey, OL, Louisville
Ezra Butler, LB, Nevada
Terrill Byrd, DT, Cincinnati
Matt Castelo, LB, San Jose State
Calais Campbell, DE, Miami
Ian Campbell, DE, Kansas State
Jonathan Casillas, LB, Wisconsin
Gosder Cherilus, OT, Boston College
Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State
Chris Clark, OL, Southern Miss
Nelson Coleman, LB, Tulsa
Dan Connor, LB, Penn State
Maurice Crum, Jr, LB, Notre Dame
Andrew Crummey, OL, Maryland
Kyle Cunningham, OT, Louisiana-Monroe
Bruce Davis, DE, UCLA
Ward Dobbs, LB, Wyoming
Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU
Keilen Dykes, DT, West Virginia
Kirk Elder, OG, Texas A&M
Sedrick Ellis, DT, USC
Larry English, DE, Northern Illinois
Andre Fluellen, DL, Florida State
Eric Foster, DT, Rutgers
Drew Fowler, LB, Air Force
Jonathan Goff, LB, Vanderbilt
John Greco, OT, Toledo
Vernon Gholston, DL, Ohio State
Quentin Groves, DE, Auburn
Vince Hall, LB, Virginia Tech
Antron Harper, C, Navy
Chris Harrington, DE, Texas A&M
Andrew Hartline, OL, Central Michigan
Brigham Harwell, DT, UCLA
Robert Henderson, DL, Southern Miss
Robby Heos, OL, Rice
Adam Hill, C, Louisiana-Monroe
Darius Hill, TE, Ball State
Tony Hills, OL, Texas
Louis Holmes, DE, Arizona
Dan Holtzclaw, LB, Eastern Michigan
Joey Hudson, LB, Miami (OH)
Phillip Hunt, DL, Houston
Kenny Iwebema, DL, Iowa
Lawrence Jackson, DE, USC
Tavares Jones, DE, Middle Tennessee State
Steve Justice, C, Wake Forest
Thomas “Red” Keith, LB, Central Michigan
James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio State
Trevor Laws, DE, Notre Dame
Doug Legursky, OL, Marshall
J Leman, LB, Illinois
Kory Lichtensteiger, OL, Bowling Green
Derek Lokey, DL, Texas
Chris Long, DE, Virginia
Jake Long, OT, Michigan
Jonathan Luigs, C, Arkansas
Alex Mack, C, California
Gerald McRath, LB, Southern Miss
Rey Maualuga, LB, USC
Jerod Mayo, LB, Tennessee
Jameel McClain, DE, Syracuse
Albert McClellan, DE, Marshall
James McClinton, DL, Kansas
Drew Miller, OL, Florida
Shawn Nelson, TE, Southern Miss
Michael Oher, OL, Ole Miss
Frank Okam, DT, Texas
Chase Ortiz, DE, TCU
Michael Parenton, OG, Tulane
Jeremy Perry, OG, Oregon State
Jason Phillips, LB, TCU
Josh Pinnick, DL, Florida Atlantic
Mike Pollak, C, Arizona State
DeMario Pressley, DT, NC State
Barry Richardson, OT, Clemson
Steve Rissler, C, Florida
Keith Rivers, LB, USC
Duke Robinson, OL, Oklahoma
Brandon Rodd, OL, Arizona State
Martin Rucker, TE, Missouri
Bo Ruud, LB, Nebraska
Tom Santi, TE, Virginia
Matt Shaughnessy, DE, Wisconsin
Matt Slauson, OL, Nebraska
John Sullivan, C, Notre Dame
Jacob Tamme, TE, Kentucky
Christian Taylor, LB, UCLA
Shannon Tevaga, OG, UCLA
Brandon Thompson, DE, Army
William VanDeSteeg, DE, Minnesota
David Vobora, LB, Idaho
Erik Walden, DL, Middle Tennessee State
Cody Wallace, C, Texas A&M
Philip Wheeler, LB, Georgia Tech
Chris Williams, OL, Vanderbilt
Wesley Woodyard, LB, Kentucky
Jeremy Zuttah, OL, Rutgers
The Rotary Lombardi Award, presented by Wachovia, was founded in the weeks following the death of legendary football coach Vince Lombardi from cancer in 1970. When Marie Lombardi granted the use of her husband’s name to the Rotary Club of Houston, her only stipulation was that all net proceeds from the event be donated to the American Cancer Society. Since that time, millions of dollars have been raised for the American Cancer Society.
The 38th Rotary Lombardi Award dinner will be held on December 5, 2007 at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston. Tickets to the event are available for sale through the Rotary Club of Houston office or from members of the Rotary Lombardi Award committee. For more information, call 713-973-9936 or visit the website at rotarylombardiaward.com.
The Rotary Club of Houston, in operation since 1912, is an association of more than 350 successful business professionals, all prominent in their individual fields of endeavor, who volunteer their efforts through the work of some two dozen club committees. Assistance is provided to such diverse groups as troubled youngsters, former prison inmates, business oriented high school students, families of cancer patients, deserving college scholarship candidates and the nation's cancer research efforts. The club’s most recent community project is the East End Healthy Children’s Collaborative which provides much needed access to primary health care for residents on Houston's East side.
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