Pitt Football News

10-25-06

Pitt's Blades Named Quarterfinalist for Lott Trophy

PITTSBURGH—University of Pittsburgh senior linebacker H.B. Blades has been named one of 17 quarterfinalists for the 2006 Lott Trophy, which honors college football’s top defensive player.

The award, named after Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, takes into account athletic performance and personal character. Sponsored by the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation, the Lott Trophy highlights the qualities of integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity.

Blades (Plantation, Fla./Plantation) ranks among the most productive defenders in college football. Through eight games, he is third nationally and first in the Big East with 12.13 tackles per game. He is fifth nationally (first in the Big East) with 7.0 solo stops per game.

Coming off a 19-tackle performance against Rutgers last week, Blades now has a team-high 97 stops on the year. Well on his way to achieving a third consecutive 100-tackle season, he now has 383 career stops, which ranks fifth all-time at Pitt.

In addition to being a candidate for the Lott Trophy, Blades was previously named a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented to the nation’s top defensive player, and the Butkus Award, which honors the country’s top linebacker.

Voters for the Lott Trophy include selected members of the national media, previous finalists, the Board of Directors of the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation and Master Coaches, a distinguished group of former head college coaches.

The quarterfinalist list will be trimmed to seven on Nov. 9. The finalists will be announced on Nov. 27 with the winner announced on Dec. 10.

David Pollack of Georgia and DeMeco Ryans of Alabama were the winners of the first two Lott Trophies. Both Georgia and Alabama received $25,000 for their general scholarship funds. In two years, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has donated $170,000 to various charities, in addition to the two universities.

The Panthers are idle this week before playing at South Florida for a key Big East matchup on November 4. The game will be televised by ESPN Regional as part of its Big East Game of the Week package and shown locally on WTAE-TV, channel 4.