May 24, 2011
TEMPE, Ariz.-Arizona State University senior center Garth Gerhart has been named to the 2011 Watch List for the Rimington Trophy, it was announced. The trophy is presented annually to the nation's most outstanding center in NCAA Division I-A college football.
Gerhart, a 6-2, 295-pounder from Norco, California, is one of only three returning starters in the Pacific-12 Conference. Gerhart is the most experienced returning center in the league, having started in all three seasons of his career.
Gerhart, who has started 22 of the 26 games he has played in, is a team leader and the anchor of a veteran offensive line. Gerhart is a history major and is the younger brother of current Minnesota Viking running back Toby Gerhart.
While more than a dozen All-America football teams are selected annually, the Rimington Trophy committee uses these four prestigious teams to determine a winner:
* American Football Coaches Association
* Walter Camp Foundation
* Sporting News
* Football Writers Association of America
The winner will be honored at the Rimington Trophy Presentation banquet at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska on January 14, 2012.
The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the Most Outstanding Center in NCAA Division I-A College Football. Since its inception, the Rimington Trophy has raised over $2 million. The twelve-year old award is overseen by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis and has raised over $86 million for CF Research.
Dave Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy's only double winner as the nation's finest college interior lineman. For more on the Rimington Trophy and a list of past recipients, visit www.rimingtontrophy.com
The Rimington Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association's official website, ncfaa.org.
A complete list of 2011 Rimington Trophy Watch List names can be found here: http://www.rimingtontrophy.com/news/?id=9824