Aug. 25, 2004
Columbia, S.C. –
With the football season only 10 days away, University of South Carolina center John Strickland is a player to keep an eye on, as he is on the updated watch list for the Dave Rimington Trophy, the organization announced today. Strickland was on the pre-season watch list released in March prior to Spring football. The revised watch list will be updated throughout the season in the weekly Rimington Reports.
A 6-5, 304-pound senior from Bainbridge, Ga., Strickland is an all-SEC candidate who started in eight of the 11 games in which he played and drew praise from the Gamecock coaching staff as a player who developed into a very good SEC center by season’s end.
The Rimington Trophy recipient is determined by a consensus of the four All-America teams: The Walter Camp Football Foundation, America Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, and The Sporting News.
The five-year old trophy (Virginia Tech’s Jake Grove, Miami’s Brett Romberg, Ohio State’s LeCharles Bentley, and Nebraska’s Dominic Raiola are past recipients) is presented by Canon, USA and Black & Decker. The award is hosted by the Boomer Esiason Foundation. Esiason, created his foundation in 1993 to support research and treatment of cystic fibrosis. Esiason and Dave Rimington were teammates on the Cincinnati Bengals from 1984-87. Rimington, the award’s namesake, was a consensus first team All-America center at Nebraska in 1981 and ’82 – years in which he became the John Outland Trophy’s only double winner as the nation’s premiere college interior lineman.
Strickland and the Gamecocks open the season in Nashville when they battle dangerous SEC foe Vanderbilt at 12:30 p.m. (EST) on September 4. The game will be televised by Jefferson Pilot.
2004 Rimington Trophy Watch List Jim Borrieci Akron Senior 6'3" 302 lbs. Andy Brewster North Texas Senior 6'2" 275 lbs. Matt Brock Oregon State Senior 6'2" 301 lbs. Jason Brown North Carolina Senior 6'3" 308 lbs. Vince Carter Oklahoma Senior 6'3" 277 lbs. David Castillo Florida State Junior 6'2" 301 lbs. Ryan Cook New Mexico Junior 6'7" 339 lbs. Mike Degory Florida Junior 6'5" 314 lbs. Greg Eslinger Minnesota Junior 6'3" 280 lbs. Keoki Fraser Arizona Senior 6'3" 295 lbs. Gene Frederic Memphis Senior 6'4" 292 lbs. Jason Glynn Texas Senior 6'2" 275 lbs. Geoff Hangartner Texas A&M Senior 6'5" 303 lbs. Jasper Harvey San Diego State Junior 6'3" 300 lbs. Jeremy Hines West Virginia Sophomore 6'2" 285 lbs. Richie Icognito Nebraska Junior 6'3" 290 lbs. Billy Irwin Connecticut Senior 6'2" 281 lbs. Chase Johnson TCU Senior 6'3" 310 lbs. Todd Londot Miami (Ohio) Junior 6'5" 305 lbs. Nick Mangold Ohio State Junior 6'4" 280 lbs. Mike McCloskey UCLA Junior 6'5" 285 lbs. Chris Morris Michigan State Junior 6'4" 291 lbs. Scott Mruczkowsi Bowling Green Senior 6'4" 315 lbs. Jed Paulsen North Carolina State Senior 6'2" 290 lbs. Marvin Philip California Junior 6'2" 285 lbs. Donovan Raiola Wisconsin Junior 6'3" 290 lbs. Jason Respert Tennessee Senior 6'3" 305 lbs. Joel Rodriguez Miami Senior 6'3" 289 lbs. Pat Ross Boston College Junior 6'4" 294 lbs. Kyle Schmitt Maryland Senior 6'5" 300 lbs. Chris Spencer Mississippi Junior 6'4" 310 lbs. John Strickland South Carolina Senior 6'4" 300 lbs. Russ Tanner Georgia Junior 6'4" 290 lbs. Joe Vaughn Kansas Senior 6'1" 290 lbs. Ben Wilkerson LSU Senior 6'4" 300 lbs. Zac Yarbrough Virginia Senior 6'4" 275 lbs. Kyle Young Fresno State Sophomore 6'5" 320 lbs.
