July 13, 2011
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The preseason accolades continue to roll in for senior linebacker Chris Marve, who was named to the 2011 Rotary Lombardi Award Official Watch List on Tuesday.
In the past month, Marve has also been named to the watch lists for two postseason awards that honor the top defensive player in college football, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Chuck Bednarik Award. He was also selected to the watch list for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, a defensive award that gives equal weight to personal character as well as athletic performance.
Marve is also expected to be a candidate for the Butkus Award given to the nation’s outstanding linebacker. The Butkus Award will name its semifinalists during the 2011 season.
The Lombardi Award is awarded to the nation’s top lineman each year. Eligibility is limited to down linemen, end-to-end, either on offense or defense, who set up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball, and linebackers who set up no farther than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
According to the Rotary Lombardi Award Committee, the candidates earned a place on the Official Watch List by earning All-American honors last season, by being named to their respective all-conference first team last season as selected by the conference’s head coaches, by being projected to be an All-American or first team all-conference player for the coming season, or by nomination approved by the nominations committee.
Marve and the Commodores open their 2011 season against Elon on Sept. 3 in Vanderbilt Stadium.