University of North Carolina Athletics
Reed Named To Lou Groza Award Preseason Watch List
August 6, 2001 | Football
Aug. 6, 2001
Palm Beach, Fla. - University of North Carolina senior place-kicker Jeff Reed has been named to the 2001 Lou Groza Award Preseason Watch List announced Monday by the Palm Beach Sports Commission. This list is comprised of the top 30 preliminary candidates for the 10th Annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl. The award will be given out during the awards banquet on Tuesday, December 4, at the Sheraton at CityPlace in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Last year, Reed converted 16 of 20 field goal attempts and was successful on all 30 extra point tries. He was selected second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference and was an Academic All-ACC selection as well. Reed began the 2000 campaign as a walk-on, but was granted a scholarship after the third game of the season.
A brief biography of each player on the Lou Groza Award Watch List can be found at www.palmbeachsports.com/Groza. The website will also feature a special interactive online voting section. This feature, which will be fully operational shortly, allows anyone to vote for who they think should win the Lou Groza Award. The online voting feature is purely for fun and has no influence on the actual voting for the award.
The kickers on the Lou Groza Award Watch List were chosen based on statistics from the 2000 season and on preseason expectations. However, any Division I kicker is eligible for consideration for the award. The Watch List is more of a reference than anything else for the over 300 Division I coaches, national media members, previous winners, and NFL kickers who vote on the award.
The 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award will be announced in late October, followed several weeks later by the naming of the three Lou Groza Award finalists.
The award, now in its 10th year, is named for NFL Hall-of-Fame kicker Lou Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954. Nicknamed "The Toe," Groza was one of the first people to truly make kicking an art form, and he helped usher in to football the idea that a player could be used exclusively for kicking.
2001 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Preseason Watch List John Anderson University of Washington Steve Azar Northern Illinois University Mike Barth Arizona State University illy Bennett University of Georgia Javier Beorlegui University of Central Florida Andy Brumbergs Miami (OH) University Nick Calaycay Boise State University Ryan Cesca Oregon State University Jeff Chandler University of Florida Travis Dorsch Purdue University Tim Duncan University of Oklahoma Damon Duval Auburn University Chris Earnest University of Tulsa Todd France University of Toledo Rhett Gallego University of Alabama-Birmingham Chris Griffith UCLA Seth Hanson University of Kentucky Nate Kaeding University of Iowa Sean Keel University of Arizona rian Kelly Middle Tennessee State University Luke Manget Georgia Tech Seth Marler Tulane University Dan Nystrom University of Minnesota Jeff Reed University of North Carolina Jonathan Ruffin University of Cincinnati Todd Sievers University of Miami (FL) Toller Starnes Eastern Michigan University Neal Thomas University of Alabama Alex Walls University of Tennessee Carter Warley Virginia Tech
