By Paul Bartelt, IPA Sports Editor
Newport Beach, Ca…The 15th annual Lott IMPACT Trophy, honoring college footballs finest defensive player of the year that considers best in character and performance, announced this seasons canidates at a luncheon held earlier this month. The annual event was hosted by NFL Hall of Fame and former San Francisco 49ers defensive back Ronnie Lott, a four time Super Bowl champion, who the award is named after. Lott was a collage All American and played on a National Championship football team at the University of Southern California.
Forty-two student athletes were identified to potentially receive this prestigious award that will be broadcast live December 9th on CBS Sports Television from the Pacific Club in Newport Beach, California. Student athletes are evaluated through out the football season with a player of the week chosen every Monday and his University recieving a $1,000 donation to its yearly scholorship fund.
IMPACT stands for Intergity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. Voting for the Lott IMPACT Award includes members of the national media, previous Lott Foundation finalists, the Lott IMPACT Board of Directors and a select group of former collegiate head football head coaches. Some of this years IMPACT watch list players include Nick Bosa, a defensive end from Ohio State University, 2017 Butkus Award finalist, linebacker T.J. Edward, from Wisconsin, Ed Oliver, a defensive lineman from Houston who won the Outland Trophy last season and two time All-American defensive lineman Christian Wilkins from Clemson who was a Lott IMPACT quarter finalist in 2017.
Founded in 2004, the award is presented to college footballs defensive IMPACT player of the year and is the only college football award that equally recognaizes athletic performance and the players charcter attributes.
Since its inception, the Lott Foundation has donated over 1.5 Million Dollars to various charities and Universities through out the country.
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