It might seem like college football is far away, but it’s not far away enough that award watch lists can’t be made. We now have one for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is the only major award in the sport that considers character. It’s good to know that performance doesn’t play a factor in this one, and it’s even better seeing two Notre Dame players make the 42-player list. Those players are linebacker [autotag]JD Bertrand[/autotag] and safety transfer [autotag]Brandon Joseph[/autotag].
If Bertrand or Joseph were to win the Lott Trophy, they would join [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] in 2012 as the only Irish players to be so honored. [autotag]Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah[/autotag] is the only other player in the award’s history to be a finalist, doing so in 2020.
Bertrand, the Irish’s leading tackler in 2021 (101), has been nominated for being the president of Notre Dame’s Uplifting Athletes chapter, which is part of an organization that raises money for athletes suffering from rare diseases. Joseph, a transfer from Northwestern, is a Consensus All-American and had an Academic All-State honor in high school.
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