Boston College junior linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis picked up his second watch list honors of the preseason with the release of the 2012 Rotary Lombardi Award watch list. Though I wouldn't say this particular watch list is all that selective with a total of 145 players named to the initial list.
The Rotary Lombardi Award is given annually to the nation's top college lineman or linebacker each year, and has some rather funky criteria. Eligibility for the award is limited to:
- offensive or defensive end-to-end down linemen who set up no father than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball and
- linebackers who set up no farther than five years deep from the line of scrimmage.
KPL and the 144 other named candidates earned a place on the 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.
The Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List will be pared down throughout the year, from 145 to the top 25 quarterfinalists to seven and finally four finalists The winner of the 43rd Rotary Lombardi Award will be announced on Wednesday, December 5 at a banquet at The Hobby Center in Houston, Texas.
BC's Luke Kuechly won the award last season, one of four major pieces of hardware #40 took home in 2011. While Pierre-Louis can hope to repeat the feat as the Nagurski and Lombardi Trophy winner, KPL was left off the the 2012 Butkus Award watch list.