Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raider Trio Among Lombardi Candidates
September 05, 2003 | Football
Sept. 5, 2003
LUBBOCK, Texas - Three members of the Texas Tech football team were named to the 2003 Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List, The Rotary Club of Houston announced on Friday. Toby Cecil, John Saldi and Mike Smith were named as candidates for the award, which is given annually to the nation's top offensive or defensive linemen, including linebackers.
The award is not given solely on athletic ability, but also to the person who best exemplifies the discipline of former Green Bay Packer great Vince Lombardi.
Cecil, who was named to the Rimington Watch List Thursday, has been a mainstay in the Texas Tech offensive line throughout his career and has played at both center and guard. Cecil currently ranks second in the county among collegiate offensive linemen with 38-straight starts, a streak that began during his freshman season.
Saldi, also a Butkus Award candidate, enters his sophomore season as one of the more seasoned veterans on the defensive side of the ball. Saldi earned his first start as a redshirt freshman against Iowa State last year and has remained in the lineup. He finished his freshman season with 73 tackles and was named Team Defensive MVP at the Tangerine Bowl, after recording five tackles, one for loss, an interception and four pass breakups.
Smith finished last season with 104 tackles, five for loss, a sack and two interceptions. The junior team captain has 189 career tackles and has started in every game since midway through his redshirt freshman season.
A committee of nearly 400 of the country's most prominent college football coaches, football writers, sports broadcasters and previous Rotary Lombardi Award recipients, participate in a three-tiered balloting process. Each year the selection committee selects 12 semifinalists, four finalists and ultimately the winner in balloting conducted by the accounting firm of KPMG Peat Marwick.
All four finalists, their head coaches and sports information directors will spend two days in Houston for hospital visits, media interviews and local hospitality. The climax of the trip is the annual Rotary Lombardi Dinner, when a sellout crowd gathers to hear the announcement of the winner prior to its release to the national media.
