Michigan football's Junior Colson earns prestigious honor as Lott IMPACT Trophy winner
Michigan football linebacker Junior Colson won the Lott IMPACT Trophy on Sunday night, given annually to the college football player who makes the greatest impact on and off the field.
Colson was given the 20th annual award from Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott, the namesake of the honor, at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach, California. He led the Wolverines with 71 tackles — nobody else on the team had more than 45 — with two tackles for loss and a pair of quarterback hurries.
According to the award's website, IMPACT stands integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity, which U-M's middle linebacker also brought off the field.
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Colson was at Somerset Mall in Troy last week along with running back Blake Corum, defensive back Mike Sainristil and a host of other Wolverines for a toy drive. Once fans donated a toy, they could take a picture with their favorite Michigan football players — and the athletes could choose where to donate the gifts.
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Colson, a native of Haiti and All-Big Ten linebacker, works with Mitch Albom's Have Faith Haiti organization, which he will use as the vehicle to send toys back to his home country.
Colson, who has played in 41 games and made 34 starts at linebacker, is now the third U-M player to win the award; he joins Jabrill Peppers (2016) and Aidan Hutchinson (2021), both of whom were Heisman finalists when they won the award.
Former Michigan Heisman winner Charles Woodson was also given an honorary award in 2021.
Utah defensive end Jonah Elliss, UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu and Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner were the other three finalists to be this year's recipient. Michigan will receive a $25,000 donation to its general scholarship fund in Colson's name, and the other finalists' schools will each receive $5,000.
Transfer portal news
The first Michigan player of the cycle has hit the transfer portal — running back CJ Stokes.
Stokes took to social media Monday morning to announce he has entered his name to the portal and will explore future options; he ran four times for 8 yards in two games in 2023. Stokes could have 3 years of eligibility remaining should he seek a redshirt for this year.
"I'd like to not only thank Coach Harbaugh and Coach Hart, but the whole athletic and academic staff for making by 2 years in Ann Arbor enjoyable," Stokes' post read. "I was awarded the opportunity of a lifetime to attend the great university and I am forever grateful.
"With that being said, I'd like to announce I'll be entering the transfer portal."
Stokes climbed the ranks quickly and became the No. 3 back for much of his true freshman 2022 season, when he ran 55 times for 273 yards (5 yards per attempt). He scored a touchdown against Hawaii. His arrow was trending up when starter Blake Corum went down at the half against Illinois. Stokes took over as the primary ball-carrier and ran a career-high 11 times for 36 yards.
He ran for 68 yards the week prior against Nebraska.
It was a crowded backfield that not only included Corum — who set U-M's single-season touchdown record — as the feature back and Donovan Edwards as the pass catching threat, but the newly anointed short-yardage back in converted linebacker Kalel Mullings.
That didn't appear to leave much of a role for Stokes and it certainly didn't help matters he was ruled out in the Big Ten availability report for undisclosed reasons from Weeks 3-11. He did not appear on the report in either of the final two regular season games or the Big Ten championship game, but never saw action.
There will certainly be more opportunity for a new running back next year with Corum having already announced he's going to the NFL and the same decision by Edwards appearing only a formality, but Stokes is ready to see what else is out there.
While that will leave opportunity for this year's freshmen tandem of Benjamin Hall and Cole Cabana, and Leon Franklin and Tavierre Dunlap, don't be surprised to see the Wolverines acquire a runner in the same way they appear to have just lost one.
FBS players have from Dec. 4 to Jan. 2, 2024 to enter their name in the portal during the NCAA’s fall window.
Next up: Rose Bowl
Matchup: No. 1 Michigan (13-0) vs. No. 4 Alabama (12-1), CFP semifinal.
Kickoff: 5:10 p.m. Jan. 1; Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California.
TV/radio: ESPN; WXYT-FM (97.1), WTKA-AM (1050).
Line: Wolverines by 1½.
At stake: The winner faces the Sugar Bowl winner between No. 2 Washington and No. 4 Texas in the CFP title game Jan. 8 in Houston.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's Junior Colson named Lott IMPACT Trophy winner
