NEWPORT BEACH, Ca. – The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has named the four finalists for the 2012 Lott IMPACT Trophy. They are Georgia Linebacker Jarvis Jones, Notre Dame Linebacker Manti Te’o, Stanford Linebacker Chase Thomas and Kansas State Linebacker Arthur Brown.
The winner will be announced at the annual Lott IMPACT Trophy banquet Dec. 9 at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach.
The event will be televised live by FOX Sports West, beginning at 7 p.m. PST, and the keynote speaker will be former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The award goes to the defensive player who has had the biggest IMPACT on his team, both on and off the field. The IMPACT acronym is Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.
All four players are on some of the elite teams in the nation. Georgia is 11-1 and headed to the SEC Championship Game against Alabama this weekend; Notre Dame is 12-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country; Stanford is 10-2 and will play UCLA Friday for a berth in the Rose Bowl and Kansas State is 10-1. All four teams are ranked in the Top 8 in the nation – Notre Dame at 1, Georgia at 3, Kansas State at 6 and Stanford at 8.
Despite missing two games with an injury, Jones has 19.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks. Te’o is second in the country with seven interceptions and leads the Irish in tackles with 103. Thomas has 12.5 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and 5.5 sacks. Brown leads Kansas State with 80 tackles.
Each of the finalists has been highly recommended by their universities, citing their strong academic work, community involvement and team leadership roles.
The IMPACT Foundation will award $25,000 to the general scholarship fund of the winner’s university with each of the runnerups’ school receiving $5,000.
Previous winners of the Lott IMPACT Trophy:
2004 – David Pollack, Georgia
2005 – DeMeco Ryans, Alabama
2006 – Dante Hughes, Cal
2007 – Glenn Dorsey, LSU
2008 – James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
2009 – Jerry Hughes, TCU
2010 – J.J. Watt, Wisconsin
2011 – Luke Kuechly, Boston College
Named after Pro Football Hall of Fame member, Ronnie Lott, The Lott IMPACT Trophy is awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Founded in 2004 by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation, The Lott Trophy is the first and only college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player. The Lott Trophy is given to the player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. Voters for the award include selected members of the national media, previous finalists, the Board of Directors of the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation and a distinguished group of former college football head coaches. To date, the Foundation has donated more than $850,000 to various charities throughout the country. For more information on The Lott Trophy visit: www.LottTrophy.com.
