Marshall University Athletics
Rotary Lombardi Award Announces Watch List
8/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 18, 2009
HOUSTON - The Watch List for the 40th annual Rotary Lombardi Award was announced Tuesday and it includes Marshall University standouts Albert McClellan and Mario Harvey.
The Marshall defensive duo was included among the 153 outstanding players from across the nation to make the award's annual preseason watch list. McClellan, a senior defensive end from Lakeland, Fla., was a 2008 All-Conference USA selection and a 2009 preseason all-conference pick. Harvey, a junior linebacker from Forsyth, Ga., was named to the 2009 Conference USA Preseason All-Conference team after leading the Herd with 107 tackles last season.
The Rotary Lombardi Award is presented annually by Houston's Rotary Club to the nation's top college football lineman -- offense or defense -- who, in addition to outstanding performance and ability, best exemplifies the discipline of Vince Lombardi.
The Watch List was formed by using 2008 postseason and 2009 preseason all-conference and All-America teams. Additional nominations were accepted from Rotary Lombardi Award voters and college sports information directors. The complete list can be viewed online at www.rotarylombardiaward.org.
On Oct. 14, the 12 semifinalists for the Rotary Lombardi Award will be announced. On Nov. 11, the four finalists will be named. All of the finalists will travel to Houston for the ceremony to announce the winner on Dec. 9 at the Hilton Americas.
The 2008 Rotary Lombardi Award winner was Brian Orakpo, a defensive end from the University of Texas. He was the first round draft selection of the Washington Redskins.
The Rotary Club of Houston founded the Rotary Lombardi Award in 1970, in the weeks following the death of legendary football coach Vince Lombardi from cancer. The 40th Rotary Lombardi Award dinner will be held on December 9, 2009, at the Hilton Americas Hotel. Net proceeds from the event benefit the American Cancer Society. For more information call the Rotary Club of Houston at 713-973-9936 or visit the website at www.rotarylombardiaward.org.
The Rotary Club of Houston, in operation since 1912, is an association of more than 350 successful business professionals, all prominent in their individual fields of endeavor, who volunteer their efforts through the work of some two dozen club committees. Assistance is provided to such diverse groups as troubled youngsters, former prison inmates, business oriented high school students, families of cancer patients, deserving college scholarship candidates and the nation's cancer research efforts. The club's most recent community project is the East End Healthy Children's Collaborative which provides much needed access to primary health care for residents on Houston's East side.
