Draft Insiders' Digest Premier NFL Draft and Free Agency Publication
Photo – OT Anthony Davis – Rutgers
Lombardi Award Announces Watch List
HOUSTON – The Watch List for the 40th annual Rotary Lombardi Award has been announced and it includes 153 players from 79 teams and 11 conferences. The Rotary Lombardi Award is presented annually by Houston's Rotary Club to the nation's top college football lineman -- offense or defense -- who, in addition to outstanding performance and ability, best exemplifies the discipline of Vince Lombardi.
The Watch List was formed by using 2008 postseason and 2009 preseason all-conference and All-America teams. Additional nominations were accepted from Rotary Lombardi Award voters and college sports information directors.
On Oct. 14, the 12 semifinalists for the Rotary Lombardi Award will be announced. On Nov. 11, the four finalists will be named. All of the finalists will travel to Houston for the ceremony to announce the winner on Dec. 9 at the Hilton Americas. The 2008 Rotary Lombardi Award winner was Brian Orakpo, a defensive end from the University of Texas. He was the first round draft selection of the Washington Redskins.
The Rotary Club of Houston founded the Rotary Lombardi Award in 1970, in the weeks following the death of legendary coach Vince Lombardi from cancer. The 40th Rotary Lombardi Award dinner will be held on Dec. 9, 2009, at the Hilton Hotel. Net proceeds from the event benefit the American Cancer Society. For more information call the Rotary Club of Houston at 713-973-9936 or visit the website at www.rotarylombardiaward.org.
Rutgers junior offensive tackle Anthony Davis (Piscataway, N.J.) is one of the premier players for this award. He was also named to the 40-man Outland Trophy Watch List. He is a Preseason All-American and has been the anchor of a Scarlet Knight offensive line in recent seasons that returns all five starters for the 2009 season.
2009 Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List
Name / School / Pos / Yr / Hgt / Wgt
Rahim Alem - LSU - DE - Sr - 6-3, 254
Sean Allen - East Carolina - OL - Sr - 6-3, 310
Tyson Alualu - California - DL - Sr - 6-3, 295
Geno Atkins - Georgia - DT - Sr - 6-1, 287
Marvin Austin - North Carolina - DT - So - 6-3, 305
Carl Barnett - Houston - OL - Sr - 6-2, 285
Kevin Basped - Nevada - DL - Jr - 6-6, 240
Zane Beadles - Utah - OL Sr - 6-4, 305
Jeremy Beal - Oklahoma - DL - Jr - 6-3, 261
Jason Beauchamp - UNLV - LB - Sr - 6-3, 235
Nick Bellore - Central Michigan - LB - Jr - 6-1, 241
Patrick Benoist - Vanderbilt - LB - Sr - 6-1, 224
Scooter Berry - West Virginia - DL - Jr - 6-1, 294
Ciron Black - LSU - OL - Sr - 6-5, 325
Clint Boling - Georgia - LT - Jr - 6-5, 297
Greg Boone - Virginia Tech - TE - Sr - 6-3, 283
Korey Bosworth - UCLA - DE - Sr - 6-1, 242
Kyle Bosworth - UCLA - LB - Sr - 6-1, 234
Navorro Bowman - Penn St. - LB - Jr - 6-1 230
Mike Brewster - Ohio St - C - So - 6-5, 296
Mike Bryan - Tulsa - LB - Sr - 6-3, 226
Bryan Bulaga - Iowa - OT - Jr - 6-6, 315
Ben Burkett - Northwestern - C - So - 6-4. 285
Brad Bustle - Louisiana - G - Sr - 6-3, 302
Jeff Byers - Southern California - OG - Sr - 6-3, 290
Nate Byham - Pittsburgh - TE - Jr - 6-4, 265
Gabe Carimi - Wisconsin - OL - Jr - 6-7, 325
Alex Carrington - Arkansas St - DE - Sr - 6-5, 275
Brandon Carter - Texas Tech - OL - Sr 6-7, 354
Reggie Carter - UCLA - LB - Sr - 6-1, 240
Anthony Castonzo - Boston College - OT - Jr - 6-7, 287
Nick Charles - Air Force - OL - Sr - 6-4, 285
Keenan Clayton - Oklahoma - LB - Sr - 6-1, 221
Terrence Cody - Alabama - DL - Sr - 6-5, 354
Justin Cole - San Jose St. - LB - Sr - 6-3, 240
Antonio Coleman - Auburn - DE - Sr - 6-3, 257
Erik Cook - New Mexico - OL - Sr. - 6-6, 318
Jermaine Cunningham - Florida - DE - Sr - 6-3, 252
Rennie Curran - Georgia - LB - So - 5-11, 228
Anthony Davis - Rutgers - OL - Jr - 6-6, 325
Dexter Davis - Arizona St - DE - Sr - 6-2, 255
Carlos Dunlap - Florida - DL - Jr - 6-6, 290
Alonzo Durham - Nevada - OL - Sr - 6-4, 285
Auston English - Oklahoma - DE - Sr - 6-3, 251
John Estes - Hawaii - C - Sr - 6-3, 300
Chris Fisher - Louisiana - C - Sr - 6-3, 291
John Fletcher - Wyoming - DL - Sr - 6-6, 272
Jason Fox - Miami - OT - Sr - 6-7, 314
Danny Franks - Troy - C - Sr - 6-3, 309
Brandon Graham - Michigan - DE - Sr - 6-2, 263
Garrett Graham - Wisconsin - TE - Sr - 6-3, 250
Anthony Gray - Southern Mississippi - DL - Jr - 6-1, 315
Virgil Green - Nevada - TE - Jr - 6-5, 240
Jeremaine Gresham - Oklahoma - TE - Sr - 6-6, 258
Rob Gronkowski - Arizona -TE - Jr - 6-6, 275
Lawrence Guy - Arizona St - DT - So - 6-5, 293
Chris Hall - Texas - C - Sr - 6-4, 295
Greg Hardy - Mississippi - DE - Sr - 6-5, 275
Mario Harvey - Marshall - LB - Jr - 6-1, 244
Ryan Hebert - Southern Mississippi - OL - Sr - 6-5, 295
Aaron Hernandez - Florida - TE - Jr - 6-2, 250
Dont’a Hightower - Alabama - LB - So - 6-4, 250
Tyler Holmes - Tulsa - OL - So - 6-4, 306
Rodney Hudson - Florida St - OG - Jr - 6-2, 285
Jerry Hughes - TCU - DE - Sr - 6-3, 257
Paul Igboeli - Utah St - LB - Sr - 6-1, 222
Carl Ihenacho - San Jose St - DL - Sr - 6-3, 256
Mike Iupati - Idaho - OL - Sr - 6-6, 330
Andrew Jackson - Fresno St - OL - Jr - 6-5, 260
Cardia Jackson - ULM - LB - Sr - 6-2, 240
Ben Jacobs - Fresno St - LB - Jr - 6-3, 225
John Jerry - Mississippi - OL - Sr - 6-6, 335
Micah Johnson - Kentucky - LB - Sr - 6-2, 258
Mike Johnson - Alabama - OL - Sr - 6-6, 305
Nick Johnson - East Carolina - LB - Sr - 6-1, 217
Arthur Jones - Syracuse - DT - Jr - 6-4, 291
Greg Jones - Michigan St - LB - So - 6-1, 222
Jan Jorgensen - BYU - DL - Sr - 6-3, 259
Sergio Kindle - Texas - DE/LB - Sr - 6-4, 255
Jammie Kirlew - Indiana - DE - Sr - 6-3, 263
Brandon Lang - Troy - DE - Sr - 6-4, 266
Boris Lee - Troy - LB - Sr - 6-1, 245
Sean Lee - Penn St - LB - Sr - 6-2, 236
Travis Lewis - Oklahoma - LB - So - 6-2, 232
Rolando McClain - Alabama - LB - Jr - 6-4, 258
Albert McClellan - Marshall - DE - Sr - 6-2, 252
Gerald McCoy - Oklahoma - DT - Jr - 6-4, 297
Rob McGill - Louisiana Tech - OL - Jr - 6-7, 235
Bruce Miller - UCF - DL - Jr - 6-2, 253
Koa Misi - Utah - DL - Sr - 6-3, 263
Earl Mitchell - Arizona - DT - Sr - 6-2, 295
John Moffitt - Wisconsin - C - Jr - 6-4, 313
David Molk - Michigan - C - So - 6-2, 273
Derrick Morgan - Georgia Tech - DE - Jr - 6-4, 272
Chris Neild - West Virginia - DL - Jr - 6-2, 298
Marshall Newhouse - 70 - TCU - OL - Sr - 6-3, 317
Joel Nitchman - Michigan St - C - Sr - 6-4, 296
Mike Nixon - Arizona St - LB - Sr - 6-3, 224
Eric Norwood - South Carolina - LB - Sr - 6-1, 252
Kristofer O’Dowd - Southern California - C - Jr - 6-5, 300
Jared Odrick - Penn St - DT - Sr - 6-5, 296
Vince Oghobaase - Duke - DT - Sr - 6-5, 305
Russell Okung - Oklahoma St - OL - Sr - 6-6, 305
Eric Olsen - Notre Dame - C - Sr - 6-4, 305
Joe Pawelek - Baylor - LB - Sr - 6-2, 240
Dennis Pitta - BYU - TE - Sr. - 6-5, 247
Brian Price - UCLA - DT - Jr - 6-2, 295
Ross Pospisil - Navy - LB - Sr - 6-1, 227
Maurkice Pouncey - Florida - C - Jr - 6-5, 312
Mike Pouncey - Florida - OL - Jr - 6-5, 312
Austin Pritchard - Western Michigan - LB - Jr - 6-4, 235
Brooks Reed - Arizona - DE - Jr - 6-3, 255
Sergio Render - Virginia Tech - OG - So - 6-4, 310
Dominik Riley - Memphis - OL - Jr - 6-4, 315
Boo Robinson - Wake Forest - DT - Sr - 6-2, 295
Stephen Schilling - Michigan - OG - Jr - 6-5, 304
Jake Seitz - UAB - OL - Sr - 6-2, 290
George Selvie - South Florida - DE - Sr - 6-4, 250
Andre Sexton - Oklahoma St - LB - Sr - 6-1, 224
Cameron Sheffield - Troy - DE - Sr - 6-2, 249
Malcolm Sheppard - Arkansas - DT - Sr - 6-2, 255
Brian Smith - Notre Dame - LB - Jr - 6-3, 240
D’Anthony Smith - Louisiana Tech - DT - Sr - 6-2, 300
Shelley Smith - Colorado St - OL - Sr - 6-4, 300
Brandon Spikes - Florida - LB - Jr - 6-3, 245
Quan Sturdivant - North Carolina - LB - Jr - 6-2, 230
Ndamukong Suh - Nebraska - DT - Sr - 6-4, 300
Stevenson Sylvester - Utah - LB - Sr - 6-2, 230
Daniel Te'o-Nesheim - Washington - DE - Sr - 6-4, 263
Matt Tennant - Boston College - C - Sr - 6-4, 295
J.T. Thomas - West Virginia - LB - Jr - 6-2, 225
Torrell Troup - UCF - DT - Sr - 6-3, 314
Jabaree Tuani - Navy - DE - So - 6-1, 254
Victor Ugenyi - Army - DE - Jr - 6-3, 253
Adam Ulatoski - Texas - OT - Sr - 6-6, 310
J.D. Walton - Baylor - C - Sr - 6-3, 305
Daryl Washington - TCU - LB - Sr - 6-3, 234
Dekoda Watson - Florida St - LB - Sr - 6-2, 228
Sean Weatherspoon - Missouri - LB - Sr - 6-2, 245
D.J. Williams - Arkansas - TE - Jr - 6-2, 251
Reed Williams - West Virginia - LB - Sr - 6-2, 232
Trent Williams - Oklahoma - OL - Sr - 6-5, 318
C.J. Wilson - East Carolina - DL - Sr - 6-4, 278
Martez Wilson - Illinois - LB - Jr - 6-4, 240
Ryan Winterswyck - Boise St - DE - So - 6-4, 258
Stefan Wisniewski - Penn St - C/G - Jr - 6-3, 302
Bear Woods - Troy - LB - Sr - 6-1, 245
Corey Wootton - Northwestern - DE - Sr - 6-7, 270
Jason Worilds - Virginia Tech - DE - Jr - 6-2, 240
Alex Wujciak - Maryland - LB - Jr - 6-3, 255
Sam Young - Notre Dame - OT - Sr - 6-8, 320
Willie Young - North Carolina St - DE - Gr - 6-4, 250
Frank Zombo - Central Michigan - DE - Sr - 6-4, 269
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.