Not to be held to just one award on the evening, Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib won the Rotary Lombardi Award for the nation’s top lineman (offensive or defensive) or linebacker on Wednesday night.
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He topped five other finalists, including Lawson, Garrett, Oregon’s DeForest Buckner and Michigan State’s Shilique Calhoun and Oklahoma State’s Emmanuel Ogbah to win the Hendricks Award. “I am so thankful for all of the help from my coaches, teammates and familt”. “To receive this award is an fantastic accomplishment and honor that I will always remember”.
“To be honest, I love being the darkhorse; I love being the underdog”, Nassib said.
Now, he’s a senior, the Lions’ all-time single-season sack record holder, an All-American, and is considered the best defensive player in the Big Ten, the best defensive end in the country, and the best lineman in all of FBS football. “My mom will tell you that I called her and I didn’t know if I wanted to play football anymore, and she told me I didn’t have to”. You’re going to play pro football?
“Carl Nassib is not only an outstanding football player, he’s also a scholar and humanitarian with an exemplary work ethic on and off the field”, Hendricks himself said in a release.
He remains a finalist for two more national player of the year awards – the Bednarik Award and the Lott IMPACT Trophy.
Nassib was selected as the Big Ten’s Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year and earned first team All-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and media. “We welcome him to a stellar group of past winners”.
“I’m just so happy for him”, O’Brien said.
Nassib, who won the Ted Hendricks award for best defensive end, finished the season with 46 tackles, 15 1/2 sacks and six forced fumbles to go with one interception. “Really happy to see how dominant he’s become”.
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Wednesday represented a clean awards sweep for the West Chester native; he was named the Ted Hendricks award victor, given to the best defensive end in the country, earlier in the day, and CBS Sports also named him a first-team All-American. “It drives me to be the best I can and prove people wrong, so I don’t mind it at all”.
