Lott Profiles, 2008
The Mini-Biography of George Selvie (So Far)
Name: George Selvie
School: University of South Florida
Occupation: Quarterback-Seeking Defensive End
At age 1, George is nearly killed when a car falls on him. He still has a scar extending up from the left side of his forehead.
As a high school freshman, he walks into the coaches office and tells him he’d like to be a center. That’s the football coach, not the basketball coach. “That was very impressive to me,” said the coach, Jerry Pollaro of Pine Forest High in Pensacola , Fla. “You normally don’t get kids with his (athletic) makeup coming here and telling you stuff like that. They’re all quarterbacks the first day.”
At South Florida, the only Division I school to recruit him, George starts out as a center, but is moved to defensive end after redshirting as a freshman (where he wins the Overachieving Award for his work in strength and conditioning). He is so nervous that first year that he has to stuff Pepto Bismols down before the games. Still, George has a nice first year for the up-and-coming Bulls, collecting 15.5 tackles for losses, 5 sacks and becoming a freshman All-American.
In George’s sophomore season of 2007, he emerges as a star. A superstar, at that.
He leads the nation in tackles for losses with 31.5 (one shy of the NCAA record) and is second in sacks with 14.5. He makes virtually every All-American team and is a finalist for both the Nagurski and Hendricks Awards. South Florida rockets up the national charts, getting as high as the No. 2 ranking in October before losing three in a row.
South Florida Coach Jim Leavitt knows what he has in the 6-4, 245-pound junior: “Why he’s so good is his heart, his character, his focus. He always tries to get better,” says Leavitt.
All of this leads Selvie to be on the watch list for the fifth annual Lott Trophy®.
Named after Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, The Lott Trophy® is awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT® Player of the Year. Now in its fifth year, The Lott Trophy® is the first college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.
Sponsored by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation® in Newport Beach, the award is given to a player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.
David Pollack of Georgia won the initial Lott Trophy® in 2004. DeMeco Ryans of Alabama won the award in 2005 Daymeion Hughes of Cal was the recipient in 2006 and Glenn Dorsey of LSU in 2007. Georgia, Alabama, Cal and LSU each received $25,000 for their general scholarship funds. In four years, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation® has donated more than $450,000 to various charities, including the four universities.
Voters for the award include selected members of the national media, previous finalists, the Board of Directors of the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation®, The IMPACT® Foundation Board of Advisors comprised of many retired NFL players and Master Coaches, a distinguished group of former head college coaches.
The winner will be announced at the SOLD OUT gala black-tie banquet at The Pacific Club in Newport Beach, Ca. on December 14th, 2008.
If the voters are looking for endorsements regarding Selvie, they are plentiful.
“He’s one of those explosive guys you have to make sure you get a hat on and not let him disrupt you because he can be very disruptive,” said former West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez.
“I’m excited and happy for (his success),” said USF nose tackle Richard Clebert. “Because he works so hard. Twenty-four/seven. You see the way he plays in a game, that’s the way he practices.”
“He’s a runner and a hitter,” said South Florida Defensive Coordinator Wally Burnham. “He plays with a defensive attitude and that’s hard to get sometimes – a guy whose motor runs all the time.”
And George Selvie’s motor will keep on running all the way through this football season – and beyond.