Notre Dame Rover Drue Tranquill Named To The Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List
Angela Driskell
For the second straight season Notre Dame senior Drue Tranquill has been named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List.
The Lott IMPACT Trophy is named after former USC All-American safety Ronnie Lott, a College and Pro Football Hall of Famer. Lott was a 10-time Pro Bowl player and a part of four Super Bowl winning teams with the San Francisco 49ers. The award bearing his name is given annually to a top defensive player based on character and performance.
From The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation, the group responsible for awarding this trophy:
“The Lott IMPACT Trophy honors college football’s best in character and performance. The award is unique because it represents the first college football award to give equal weight to personal character as well as athletic performance from a defensive college player and is the first national college football award based on the West Coast.
The IMPACT award is awarded annually to individuals who demonstrate excellence in the field of athletics and recognizes college football’s Defensive Player of the Year who best exemplifies the IMPACT acronym: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.”
Tranquill is one of 42 nominees for the award, which was won by Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers a season ago and by former Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Te’o following the 2012 season.
A 12-game starter at safety in 2016, Tranquill finished second on the team with 79 tackles and led the Irish with 52 solo tackles. He added a pair of tackles for loss and a pick on the season. During the offseason Tranquill was named a captain. He is set to start at rover for the Irish defense in 2017.
Notre Dame’s 2017 opponents had a number of players nominated as well: Temple safety Sean Chandler, Wake Forest defensive end Duke Ejiofor, USC defensive end Porter Gustin, USC linebacker Cameron Smith, Boston College defensive end Harold Landry, North Carolina State linebacker Airius Moore, Navy linebacker D.J. Palmore and Stanford defensive lineman Harrison Phillips.
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