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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Centers from Alabama, LSU, and Ohio State named Rimington Trophy finalists

Bradley Bozeman, Alabama; Will Clapp, LSU; and Billy Price, Ohio State

New York, NY – December 4, 2017

The Rimington Trophy Committee announced its 2017 finalists for the most outstanding center in college football. They are:

Bradley Bozeman, Alabama

Bozeman is in his second year as the Crimson Tide’s starting center. The Crimson Tide are 25-2 in his starts. He was a midseason All-American and helps anchor the Alabama line that is a finalist for the Joe Moore Award. He has graded out at 85.6 percent for the season with 16 knockdown blocks. He has opened holes for the No. 10 rushing offense in the nation at 265.3 yards per game, while allowing only two sacks in 724 snaps.

Will Clapp, LSU

Will Clapp has started all 12 games in 2017. The junior has helped pave the way for Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams, who became the third duo in school history to feature a 1,000-yard rusher and 700 yard rusher in one season. In the passing game, Clapp also protected quarterback Danny Etling in surpassing 4,000 career yards at LSU. Overall, Clapp has been the leading offensive lineman in knockdowns in more than half the games. The New Orleans, Louisiana native is also on pace to break the career starts record at LSU. 

Billy Price, Ohio State

Billy Price is the 2017 Big Ten Conference Pace-Rimington Offensive Lineman of the Year and a two-time first-team all-Big Ten Conference honoree. Named a first-team All-American in 2016 by the AFCA, Price is a strong candidate for additional All-America honors this year after already having been selected a mid-season All-American by the AP. He is a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award and was a semifinalist for the Outland Trophy. The two-time team captain is in his fourth-year as a starter and set the school record 54 consecutive starts.

The winner of the Rimington Trophy will be presented live during the ESPNU Red Carpet Show on Thursday, December 7, 2017 immediately preceding the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show. Both shows will originate from the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.

The winner will also be recognized at the Rimington Trophy Presentation at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Nebraska on Saturday, January 13, 2018. To learn more about the Rimington Trophy or to purchase tickets to the event, please visit www.rimingtontrophy.com.

The Rimington Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast 742 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.

Selection Process

The winner of the Rimington Trophy is selected by determining the consensus All-American center pick from three existing All-America teams. While more than a dozen All-America teams are selected annually, the Rimington Trophy Committee uses these three prestigious teams to determine a winner:

·       Walter Camp Foundation (WCF)

·       Sporting News (SN)

·       Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)

About the Rimington Trophy

The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I College Football. Since its inception, the seventeen-year old award has raised over $3.6 million for the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis and has raised over $130 million for the cystic fibrosis community.

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 two-time 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

Rimington Trophy Contact:

Michelle Pelini

646.292.7946

[email protected]