Syd Russell - Rimington Trophy FounderA suggestion by a retired “San Francisco Examiner” sportswriter, Syd Russell, to a former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, Boomer Esiason, led to the creation of the Rimington Trophy.
That happened in 2000, when Russell, who was writing a series of articles about national college football awards, learned that there were awards for players at every position except center.
Because he knew the Boomer Esiason Foundation promoted several sports-related programs to raise funds for the treatment and research of cystic fibrosis (a disease Boomer’s teenage son has had since infancy), Russell called that omission to Esiason’s attention and suggested that BEF sponsor an annual trophy for the outstanding NCAA Division 1-A center.
Russell expanded on his proposal by saying, “The award’s namesake should be Rimington,” whom he regards as the premier college center of all time, an opinion based on Rimington’s achievements as a junior and senior at Nebraska in 1981 and ’82 – years when the 6-foot-3, 285-pound hiker and blocker was the unanimous All-American and the only double winner of the prestigious John Outland trophy as Division 1-A’s best interior lineman.
Rimington, a 1997 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, and Esiason, the NFL’s top quarterback in 1988 with a 97.4 rating, were Cincinnati teammates from 1984 through ’87.
Russell’s writing career has taken him to 12 countries, including Japan, where he was the sports editor of the “Asahi Evening News,” an English-language newspaper in Tokyo.
| Division FBS | ||
| 2010 | Jake Kirkpatrick | TCU |
| 2009 | Maurkice Pouncey | Florida |
| 2008 | A.Q. Shipley | Penn State |
| 2007 | Jonathan Luigs | Arkansas |
| 2006 | Dan Mozes | West Virginia |
| 2005 | Greg Eslinger | Minnesota |
| 2004 | David Baas | Michigan |
| 2004 | Ben Wilkerson | LSU |
| 2003 | Jake Grove | Virginia Tech |
| 2002 | Brett Romberg | University of Miami |
| 2001 | LeCharles Bentley | Ohio State |
| 2000 | Dominic Raiola | Nebraska |
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Rimington Award Past Winners |
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| Division FCS | ||
| 2010 | Sean Middleton | Southeast Missouri State |
| 2009 | Austin Steichen | Northern Iowa |
| 2008 | Scott Lemn | James Madison University |
| 2007 | Brennen Carvalho | Portland State |
| 2006 | Jackie Skipper | Arkansas - Pine Bluff |
| 2005 | Jeff Bolton | Montana State/Bozeman |
| 2004 | Rob Hunt | North Dakota State |
| 2003 | Eugene Amano | Southeast Missouri State |
| Division II | ||
| 2010 | Brandon Fusco | Slippery Rock University |
| 2009 | Jack Hiett | University of Nebraska-Kearney |
| 2008 | Sam Collins | Abilene Christian |
| 2007 | Ryan Pope | Shepherd University |
| 2006 | Christian Morton | South Dakota |
| 2005 | Lance Ancar | North Alabama-Florence, AL |
| 2004 | Kevin Burton | Southeastern Oklahoma State University |
| 2003 | Kevin Palmer | Texas A&M-Kingsville |
| Division III | ||
| 2010 | Josh Ostrue | University of St. Thomas |
| 2009 | Dillon Hollin | Wittenburg University |
| 2008 | Josh Ostrue | University of St. Thomas |
| 2007 | Brent Allen | University of Wisconsin-Whitewater |
| 2006 | Josh Knox | Hardin-Simmons |
| 2005 | Damien Ciecwisz | Delaware Valley College-Doylestown, Pa. |
| 2004 | Matthew Bush | University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX) |
| 2003 | Tom Doyle | Capital-Columbus, Ohio |
| NAIA | ||
| 2010 | Andy Fjeseth | Carroll College |
| 2009 | Jeff Hynes | Lindenwood University |
| 2008 | Jeff Hynes | Lindenwood University |
| 2007 | Truman Ashby | Benedictine College |
| 2006 | Jeremiah Hays | Evangel |
| 2005 | Kyle Baker | Carroll College-Helena, MT |
| 2004 | Adam Sherman | University of St. Francis |
| 2003 | Dominic Miraglia | Northwestern Oklahoma State |
