Alabama football: Rolando McClain
Here is the official release:
TUSCALOOSA – Alabama junior linebacker Rolando McClain was selected as one of four finalists for the Lott Trophy, The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation announced on Saturday.
McClain, a native of Decatur, Ala., leads the Crimson Tide with a career-best 96 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss (-57 yards), 4.0 sacks (-36 yards), two interceptions (21 yards), two pass breakups, a forced fumble and 11 quarterback hurries.
McClain also quarterbacks a defense that entered the Auburn game as the nation’s leader in total defense (225.64 yards per game) and pass efficiency defense (82.52), while ranking second in rushing defense (70.36 ypg) and scoring defense (9.91 points per game).
The annual Lott Trophy Banquet will be held December 13 at The Pacific Club in Newport Beach, Calif., where the winner will be announced. The banquet will be televised live on Fox Sports West.
The other three finalists are Eric Berry of Tennessee, Ndaumkong Suh of Nebraska and Jerry Hughes of TCU. All four finalists will be in attendance at the banquet where the keynote speaker will be Peter Ueberroth.
Named after Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, the Lott Trophy is awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Now in its sixth year, the Lott Trophy is the first college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.
Sponsored by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation in Newport Beach, the award is given to the player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.
McClain is Alabama’s second finalist, joining DeMeco Ryans, who won the award in 2005. Other past winners include David Pollack (2004, Georgia), Ryans (2005), Dante Hughes (2006, California), Glenn Dorsey (2007, LSU) and James Laurinaitis (2008, Ohio State).
In five years, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has donated more than $650,000 to various charities, including $25,000 to each of the winners’ universities.
Voters for the award include selected members of the national media, previous finalists, the Board of Directors of the IMPACT Foundation, the IMPACT Foundation Board of Advisors comprised of retired NFL players and the Legends Coaches, a distinguished group of former college head coaches.
I’ll tell you, Rolly is in some fine company, but not a one of em is as valuable to their team as Rolly is. Hightower is a fantastic backer and now Nico is getting experience. But I don’t know who could replace Rolly if he doesn’t return next year. RTR!
He ain’t going nowhere. He took a valuable lesson from Andre Smith.
Oh — the NFL rookie salary cap has a lot to do with it too?