The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Awarded by the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized a ...

" the Rotary Lombardi Award program was created in 1970 shortly after the death of Lombardi. The committee outlined the original criteria for eligibility for the award, which remained in place until this day:

History

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 Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

, offensive and defensive guard, and later expanded to include

linebackers Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

and

tight ends The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

, 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 a

NCAA FBS The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

College Football team member and meet the following qualifications: * Be a down Lineman, end to end, either on offense or defense, setting up no further than ten (10) yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of the

snap Snap or SNAP may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Snap'', the original release title for the 2013 film ''Enter the Dangerous Mind'' *''Snap'' (TV series), a CITV programme * ''The Stanly News and Press'', a newspaper in Albemarle, North Carol ...

. * Be a

Linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

on defense, setting up no further than five (5) yards deep from the

line of scrimmage In gridiron football, a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line (across the width of the field) beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun. Its location is based on the spot where the ball is placed after the end o ...

. * Must not come out of the

offensive backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage. The offensive backfield can also refer to members of offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including any backs on the field, such as the q ...

and set up on the line of scrimmage as a Blocker or a Receiver or listed in the program as an Offensive Back or Receiver. * Be eligible to participate in the current season. The voting electorate is made up of the head coaches from all

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

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. The

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

holds the record for most Lombardi awards with six.

Orlando Pace Orlando Lamar Pace (born November 4, 1975) is a former American football tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams. Pace played college football at Ohio State, where he twice recei ...

, 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 Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

research, awareness, and treatment, on the stipulation of Marie Lombardi.

Expansion of candidates, then retraction

In 2017, the presenting Rotary Club expanded the award's eligibility to include all positions. 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.

Trophy

The main part of the trophy is a block of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

, paying homage to Lombardi's college days at

as an offensive lineman when his offensive line was referred to as the "

Seven Blocks of Granite The Seven Blocks of Granite were the Fordham University football team's offensive line under head coach "Sleepy" Jim Crowley and line coach Frank Leahy. The individuals identified among the Seven Blocks of Granite were Leo Paquin, Johnny Druze ...

Winners

References

External links