Auburn, Ala.--Auburn senior offensive tackle Tim Duckworth and junior defensive end Quentin Groves have been named to the Rotary Lombardi Award's Watch List, it was announced Thursday. The 37th Rotary Lombardi Award, presented by Wachovia Bank, will honor the top lineman in college football while raising funds for the American Cancer Society. It will be presented in Houston on December 6.
The basic criteria for the award is that the player must be a down lineman on either side of the ball, including tight ends and linebackers who line up within five yards of the ball. Duckworth and Groves are two of 101 players nationally who are currently on the watch list. This year's list is almost evenly divided between offensive and defensive players, with 54 defenders and 47 offensive players currently listed.
Quentin Groves will be in his first season as a full-time starter for the Tigers.
Duckworth has been named to the preseason All-SEC first team by both the league's coaches and the media, and has also been named to the Outland Trophy Watch List. Duckworth was a second-team All-SEC pick last year after posting 22.5 pancakes through the team's first 10 games.
Groves was selected to the preseason All-SEC first team by the league's coaches and has been named to the Hendricks Award and Bednarik Award Watch Lists. He posted six sacks and eight tackles for loss while playing in all 12 games in 2005. Entering his junior season in 2006, Groves has totaled 13.5 sacks and 18 tackles for loss in 27 career games. He has also forced three fumbles.
Founded in the weeks following the 1970 death of legendary football coach Vince Lombardi from cancer, the Rotary Lombardi Award has annually delivered upon the mission set forth by Marie Lombardi when she first granted the use of her late husband's name. Her only stipulation was that all net proceeds from the event be donated to the American Cancer Society and millions of dollars have been generated since that time. In addition to generating the annual donation to ACS, attendees to the 2005 ceremony combined to sponsor 31 pediatric cancer patients for a week at Camp Discovery, a camp near Kerrville, Texas, dedicated to bringing the joy and fun of summer camp to young cancer patients.