BATON ROUGE — LSU defensive end Marcus Spears is among seven players named as a semifinalist for the Lott Trophy, the The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation of Newport Beach, Calif., announced on Thursday.
The Lott Trophy is the third national award in which Spears is a semifinalist, joining the Lombardi Award and the Bednarick Award.
The Lott Trophy, named after NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, is in its first year of existence. It’s given to college football’s defensive IMPACT player of the year, which is someone who has had the biggest impact on his squad both on and off the field. IMPACT stands for integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity, all characteristics exhibited by Lott during his playing career.
Through eight games, Spears has 27 tackles to his credit and he ranks fourth in the Southeastern Conference with 10 tackles for losses. Spears also has 15 quarterback hurries, three quarterback sacks and he’s returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown for a Tiger defense that ranks fifth in the nation in total yards.
Other semifinalist for the Lott Trophy include: linebacker Michael Boley of Southern Miss; defensive end Dan Cody of Oklahoma; defensive tackle Shaun Cody of Southern Cal; linebacker Derrick Johnson of Texas; safety Jim Leonhard of Wisconsin; and defensive end David Pollack of Georgia.
The award will trim the list to three finalists on Nov. 29 with the winner to be named at a banquet in Newport Beach, Calif., on Dec. 12.