Lou Groza Award

Last updated
Lou Groza Award
GrozaAwardLogo.jpg
The Lou Groza Award logo
Awarded forthe top college football placekicker in the United States
Location Palm Beach County, Florida
Country United States
Presented byPalm Beach County Sports Commission
History
First award1992
Most recent Graham Nicholson, Miami (OH) (2023)
Website lougrozaaward.com

The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns player Lou Groza. It has been presented since 1992, with Joe Allison of Memphis State receiving the inaugural award. The incumbent award holder is Graham Nicholson of Miami University. The award is part of the National College Football Awards Association coalition.

Contents

Winners

2015 winner Ka'imi Fairbairn of UCLA Ka'imi Fairbairn UCLA.JPG
2015 winner Ka'imi Fairbairn of UCLA
YearWinnerSchoolRef.
1992 Joe Allison Memphis State [1]
1993 Judd Davis Florida [2]
1994 Steve McLaughlin Arizona [3]
1995 Michael Reeder TCU [3]
1996 Marc Primanti NC State [3]
1997 Martín Gramática Kansas State [3]
1998 Sebastian Janikowski (2) Florida State (2) [3]
1999 [4]
2000 Jonathan Ruffin Cincinnati [5]
2001 Seth Marler Tulane [6]
2002 Nate Kaeding Iowa [3]
2003 Jonathan Nichols Ole Miss [7]
2004 Mike Nugent Ohio State [3]
2005 Alexis Serna Oregon State [3]
2006 Art Carmody Louisville [8]
2007 Thomas Weber Arizona State [9]
2008 Graham Gano Florida State (3) [10]
2009 Kai Forbath UCLA [11]
2010 Dan Bailey Oklahoma State [12]
2011 Randy Bullock Texas A&M [13]
2012 Cairo Santos Tulane (2) [14]
2013 Roberto Aguayo Florida State (4) [15]
2014 Brad Craddock Maryland [16]
2015 Ka'imi Fairbairn UCLA (2) [17]
2016 Zane Gonzalez Arizona State (2) [18]
2017 Matt Gay Utah [19]
2018 Andre Szmyt Syracuse [20]
2019 Rodrigo Blankenship Georgia [21]
2020 José Borregales Miami (FL) [22]
2021 Jake Moody Michigan [23]
2022 Christopher Dunn NC State (2) [24]
2023 Graham Nicholson Miami (OH) [25]

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Caleb James Sturgis is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators, setting team records for field goals completed in a season and a career, and was recognized as a first-team All-American. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL draft.

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Roberto Jose Aguayo is an American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, where he was the most accurate kicker in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) history and third in NCAA history. He won the Lou Groza Award in 2013. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft, unusually high for a special teams player. Despite an accomplished collegiate career at Florida State, Aguayo is considered to be among the biggest busts in recent NFL history. Aguayo served as the starting kicker for the Buccaneers for only the 2016 season. He then had stints with the Chicago Bears, the Carolina Panthers, the Los Angeles Chargers and the New England Patriots between 2017 and 2021 without seeing any regular season game action.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaʻimi Fairbairn</span> American football player (born 1994)

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Chris Sailer is an American football trainer of kicking specialists. He works with high school placekickers and punters and evaluates them for college football programs. Sailer was named an All-American as both a kicker and a punter while playing college football for the UCLA Bruins. He played professionally in the Arena Football League (AFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zane Gonzalez</span> American football player (born 1995)

Holden Fortunato "Zane" Gonzalez is an American professional football placekicker who is a free agent. He played college football at Arizona State University and was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL draft. Gonzalez holds the NCAA Division I record for field goals made in a career. He was a unanimous All-American in 2016. He was awarded the Lou Groza Award in 2016.

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Graham Nicholson is an American football kicker for the Alabama Crimson Tide, he previously played for the Miami RedHawks. Nicholson won the Lou Groza Award in 2023, which is awarded to the nation's best kicker.

References

General
Footnotes
  1. "Davey Allison's cousin honored". The Index-Journal. Associated Press. December 4, 1992. p. 18. Retrieved February 16, 2017 via Newspapers.com.
  2. Dame, Mike (December 3, 1993). "Florida Kicker Judd Davis Wins Lou Groza Award". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Lou Groza Award Winners". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. December 10, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  4. "Janikowski wins second Groza award". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  5. Mallozzi, Vincent M. (December 31, 2000). "Champions 2000; From Sydney To the Bronx, the Winners". The New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  6. Fred, Bierman; Gustines, Elena Aida (December 30, 2001). "2001: Looking Back; A Year of Champions: The Fastest, the Strongest, the Best". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. "Jonathat Nichols wins Groza Award". United Press International. December 10, 2003. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  8. "Carmody wins Groza Award as top kicker". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 7, 2006. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  9. "College: 2007 Award Winners". Indiana Gazette. December 7, 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  10. "Graham Gano Wins Lou Groza Award For Nation's Top Placekicker". seminoles.com. Florida State University. December 11, 2008. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  11. "UCLA's Kai Forbath wins Lou Groza Award". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. December 10, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  12. Owens, Shannon J. (December 9, 2010). "Oklahoma State's Dan Bailey wins Lou Groza Award". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  13. "A&M's Randy Bullock wins Lou Groza Award as nation's top kicker". The Dallas Morning News. Associated Press. December 8, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  14. Nunez, Tammy (December 6, 2012). "Tulane kicker Cairo Santos wins the Lou Groza Award". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  15. Nohe, Patrik (December 12, 2013). "Roberto Aguayo Wins the Lou Groza Award". Miami Herald. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  16. Boyer, Zach (December 11, 2014). "Maryland's Brad Craddock wins Lou Groza Award as nation's best kicker". The Washington Times. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  17. Helfand, Zach (December 10, 2015). "UCLA's Ka'imi Fairbairn wins Lou Groza Award as the nation's top kicker". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  18. "ASU's Zane Gonzalez wins Groza Award as nation's top kicker". Fox Sports. December 14, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  19. "Utah's Matt Gay, with memory of his best friend on his mind, wins Lou Groza Award". Salt Lake Tribune. December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  20. Bailey, Stephen (December 6, 2018). "From walk-on to nation's best, Syracuse football K Andre Szmyt wins Lou Groza Award". The Post-Standard . Syracuse, NY . Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  21. Weiszer, Marc. "Blankenship wins Groza Award as country's top kicker". Athens Banner-Herald.
  22. "Bama players take home several major awards". 8 January 2021.
  23. Ablauf, Dave; Shepard, Chad (December 9, 2021). "Moody Becomes Michigan's First-Ever Lou Groza Award Winner". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  24. "QB Williams wins Walter Camp, Maxwell awards". ESPN.com. 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  25. "Nicholson Wins Lou Groza Award". miamiredhawks.com. West Palm Beach, Florida. December 8, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2024.