Linebacker Hayes Maples Named to Rotary Lombardi Award Preseason Watch List

Houston, Texas - The Rotary Lombardi Award in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Houston announced Thursday the prospective 80 players who will compete for this year's coveted award, including Southern Miss redshirt sophomore linebacker Hayes Maples (Hattiesburg, Miss.).

The Rotary Lombardi Award goes annually to the college football offensive or defensive lineman, who in addition to outstanding performance and ability, best exemplifies the character and discipline of NFL Hall of Fame Head Coach Vince Lombardi.

Maples led the Golden Eagles last season with 91 tackles, as well as a team-high eight tackles for loss. His totals also included one forced fumble and a recovery as well as a half sack. Maples posted five double-digit tackle performances last year, including a career-high 15 tackles versus Tulane.

This year's watch list is filled with talent from a multitude of schools and conferences, which should make for an exciting voting process. To be considered for the Rotary Lombardi Award, players must be a NCAA FBS College Football team member and meet the following qualifications:

Be a down Lineman, end to end, either on offense or defense, setting up no further than ten (10) yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of the snap.
Be a Linebacker on defense, setting up no further than five (5) yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
Must not come out of the offensive backfield and set up on the line of scrimmage as a Blocker or a Receiver or listed in the program as an Offensive Back or Receiver.
Be eligible to participate in the current season.

The voting process for this year's award ceremony will go as follows.

First round ballots are to be emailed by Sept. 24 and voting ends on Oct. 11.
The 12 semifinalists from the first round will be announced Oct. 13.
The second-round ballots will be emailed Oct. 15 and voting ends on Nov. 8.
The 4 finalists from the second round will be announced Nov. 9.
Lastly, third round ballots will be emailed by Nov. 15 and voting ends on Dec. 6.

Honorary Chair and famed Green Bay Packer Jerry Kramer, 1987 Winner Chris Spielman, the four nominees, and their coaches will attend the award ceremony on Dec. 8, in Houston Texas.
All ten Division-I FBS conferences will be represented in the 80-player watch list.

These names are only a few out of a watch list of 80 great players deserving of the Rotary Lombardi Award. The winner will be able to add their name to a notable list of past winners such as Ndamukong Suh, Aaron Taylor, Julius Peppers, Terrell Suggs, Aaron Donald, and two-time winner Orlando Pace.

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics

Linebacker Hayes Maples Named to Rotary Lombardi Award Preseason Watch List

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