Barrington, Freeland named to Rotary Lombardi Award watch list

HOUSTON, Texas — The Rotary Club of Houston has named BYU offensive linemen Clark Barrington and Blake Freeland to the preseason watch list for the 2022 Rotary Lombardi Award.

The Rotary Lombardi Award is awarded annually to the college football offensive or defensive lineman, who in addition to outstanding performance and ability, best exemplifies the character and discipline of NFL Hall of Fame Head Coach Vince Lombardi.   

Barrington, a two-year starter on the BYU offensive line, has been named 2022 preseason All-America by four organizations, including Phil Steele All-America First Team, The Sporting News All-America Second Team, Lindy's Sports All-America Second Team and Athlon Sports All-America Third Team.

The 6-6, 302-pound junior left guard started all 13 games for the Cougars in 2021 and was named to the Pro Football Network All-America Third Team. He was also selected to the 2021 PFN All-Independent First Team and was part of the PFN Offensive Line of the Year. 

Freeland also started all 13 games for the Cougars in 2021. The 6-8, 305-pound junior left tackle was named to the Phil Steele All-Independent First Team and PFN All-Independent First Team in 2021. He was an integral part of the PFN 2021 Offensive Line of the Year, helping the BYU offense produce 33 points per game, while averaging 452 yards of total offense. 

To be considered for the Rotary Lombardi Award, a player must play for a FBS college football team and be eligible to participate in the current season. The candidate must be a down lineman either on offense or defense; or be a linebacker setting up no further than five yards from the line of scrimmage.

The semi-finalists for the Rotary Lombardi Award will be announced on Nov. 10, with the four finalists for the award named on Nov. 23. The 2022 winner of the Rotary Lombardi Award will be announced on Dec. 7.