Oct. 29, 2008

Newport Beach, CA – South Carolina’s Eric Norwood is one of twenty collegiate defensive players to earn a spot on the Lott Trophy quarterfinalist list, it was announced today.

Each of the 20 players have performed at a high level on the football field and exhibited selfless character off the field.

Norwood is a 6-1, 253-pound junior from Acworth, Georgia. He has 39 tackles on the season and leads the team in tackles for losses with 5.5 and quarterback hurries with seven.

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 fifth year, The Lott Trophy is the first and only college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.

“This is another impressive list of candidates,” said Bob Cristiano, the President of the IMPACT Foundation, the sponsors of the award. “They represent the best in college football and a great cross-section of our country. It will be difficult to single out just one of these outstanding student-athletes.”

Seven different conferences are represented on the list of 20 with the Southeastern Conference leading the way with five candidates. Ohio State (James Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins) is the only school with two quarterfinalists. There are nine linebackers on the list, seven defensive linemen and four defensive backs. While there are 10 seniors on the list, there are also nine juniors (and one sophomore, Eric Berry), the most underclassmen to make the quarterfinalist Lott Trophy Watch List.

Sponsored by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation, the Lott award is given to a player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.

David Pollack of Georgia, DeMeco Ryans of Alabama, Dante Hughes of Cal and Glenn Dorsey of LSU were the winners of the first four Lott Trophies. Georgia, Alabama, Cal and LSU each received $25,000 for their general scholarship funds. In four years, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has donated $450,000 to various charities, in addition to the universities.

Voters for the award include selected members of the national media, previous finalists, the Board of Directors of the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation and Legends Coaches, a distinguished group of former head college coaches. The watch list will be trimmed to eight semifinalists on Nov. 11 and the four finalists, who will all be flown into California for the banquet, will be announced Nov. 26.

The winner will be announced at a gala black-tie banquet at The Pacific Club in Newport Beach Dec. 14. (Note: the banquet is sold out)

The keynote speaker will be long-time college football announcer Keith Jackson.