Winners
| Awarded for | The best college football lineman of the year |
|---|---|
| Location | Houston, Texas |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Rotary Club of Houston |
| History | |
| First award | 1970 |
| Most recent | Laiatu Latu, UCLA (2023) |
| Website | http://www.rotarylombardiaward.org |
The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombardi" [1] the Rotary Lombardi Award program was created in 1970 shortly after the death of Lombardi. [2] The committee outlined the original criteria for eligibility for the award, which remained in place until this day: [3] [4]
Following the death of highly regarded football coach Vince Lombardi in 1970 his widow, Marie, authorised the Rotary Club of Houston to establish the Rotary Lombardi Award. The award began as recognition to only interior line positions that Vince Lombardi played while an undergraduate at Fordham University, offensive and defensive guard, and later expanded to include linebackers and tight ends, with the addition of including non-performance values: leadership, courage, desire, respect for authority, and discipline.
To be considered for the award, players must be an NCAA FBS College Football team member and meet the following qualifications:
The voting electorate is made up of the head coaches from all NCAA Division I schools, sports media personnel from across the country, and former winners and finalists of the Lombardi Award. The total number of voters is approximately 500. [5] The Ohio State University holds the record for most Lombardi awards with six. Orlando Pace, the only two-time winner (1995 and 1996), is the most recent offensive lineman to be honored.
Net proceeds from the award activities are contributed to cancer research, awareness, and treatment, on the stipulation of Marie Lombardi.
In 2017, the presenting Rotary Club expanded the award's eligibility to include all positions. [6] This lasted until 2021, when they reverted to the original criteria. The winners from 2017 through 2020 are not recognized by the current award committee, although 2020 winner Zaven Collins qualified under the original criteria. [7]
| Year | Player | School | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Bryce Love | Stanford | RB |
| 2018 | Ugo Amadi | Oregon | S |
| 2019 | Joe Burrow | LSU | QB |
| 2020 | Zaven Collins | Tulsa | LB |
The main part of the trophy is a block of granite, paying homage to Lombardi's college days at Fordham University as an offensive lineman when his offensive line was referred to as the "Seven Blocks of Granite". [9]
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Vincent Thomas Lombardi was an American professional football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be among the greatest coaches and leaders in American sports. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight and five total NFL Championships in seven years, in addition to winning the first two Super Bowls at the conclusion of the 1966 and 1967 NFL seasons.
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The Seven Blocks of Granite were the Fordham University football team's offensive line under head coach "Sleepy" Jim Crowley and line coach Glen Carberry Frank Leahy. The individuals identified among the Seven Blocks of Granite were Leo Paquin, Johnny Druze, Alex Wojciechowicz, Ed Franco, Al Babartsky, Mike Kochel, Harry Jacunski, Natty Pierce, and Vince Lombardi. The nickname was also commonly used to referred to the Fordham lines of 1929, 1930, and 1937, but it is the 1936 line which is the best known.
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