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Three Cavaliers Named to Lombardi Watch List
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July 16, 2012
Charlottesville, Va. – Three members of the Virginia football team have been named to the 2012 Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List. Those players are senior linebacker Steve Greer, senior offensive tackle Oday Aboushi and junior offensive tackle Morgan Moses. The Rotary Lombardi Award is given to the nation’s top college lineman or linebacker each year.
Eligibility for the Rotary Lombardi Award is limited to: 1) offensive or defensive end-to-end down linemen who set up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball and 2) linebackers who set up no farther than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage. All candidates must be eligible to play college sports under the rules and regulations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The candidates earned a place on the Official Watch List by: earning All-American honors last season; being named last season to their respective all-conference first team as determined by the conference’s head coaches; being projected to be an All-American or first team all-conference player for the coming season; or by nomination approved by the nominations committee.
Aboushi and Moses had previously been named to the Outland Trophy Watch List. The award that goes to the best interior lineman in college football, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).Aboushi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) has started the last 25 games for the Cavaliers and was an All-ACC second-team performer in 2011, becoming the first UVa offensive tackle since Monroe to make the all-league squad. The senior captain enters 2012 as a preseason All-American courtesy of Athlon Sports.
Moses (Richmond, Va.) has started the last 20 games for the Cavaliers. The junior captain enters 2012 as a preseason All-American courtesy of the Phil Steele Preseason list.
Greer (Solon, Ohio) earned his second-career All-ACC honor in 2011 (second team) after being named to the honorable mention team in 2009. Greer led UVa and was seventh in the ACC with 103 tackles. Greer was named ACC Linebacker of the Week following his two-sack performance at then-No. 23 Florida State and led UVa in tackles in 8-of-12 games. Greer started all 12 regular season games before missing the Chick-fil-A Bowl with an injury. Greer is also on the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list.
Greer was previously named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch list, given annually to the nation’s best defensive player by the FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.
While the Watch List highlights those players who have already received national recognition, any Division IA player who meets the above requirements is eligible for consideration from the Rotary Lombardi Award Selection Committee. The committee is comprised of more than 500 members, including all past winners and finalists, all Division IA head coaches, and a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
The Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List is a reference tool for the Selection Committee. It will be periodically revised until the first round of voting is completed. The first round of voting determines the Top 25 Quarter finalists for 2012. The second round of voting will determine the final 7 semi-finalists or “Seven Blocks of Granite”. The third round of voting will determine the “four- finalists from the “Seven Blocks of Granite”. The fourth and final round of voting will determine the winner of The 43rd Rotary Lombardi Award which will be announced on national television live in “prime-time” 8-9 PM (CST) Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at The Hobby Center in Houston, TX (network to be determined).