 January 17, 2009 - Penn State University center A.Q. Shipley officially received the Rimington Trophy Saturday night in front of a capacity crowd at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Neb. Shipley was honored as college football’s most outstanding center. He is the first Penn State recipient of the annual award.
The event featured Drew Pearson, former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver and the evening’s keynote speaker. Pearson praised Shipley’s ability and leadership on and off the field, encouraging him to “keep looking forward”.
During the 2008 season, Shipley and his offensive line were nationally ranked in sacks allowed (8th) and rushing offense (15th), while leading the Big Ten conference in scoring offense and total offense. The Nittany Lions went on to post an 11-1 regular season record, in addition to a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Bill Curry, head coach at Georgia State University, was on hand to accept the President Gerald R. Ford Legends Center Award. Susan Ford Bales, daughter of the late president, presented the award to Curry.
“The Ford family is so honored to present this award to Bill Curry. I know my father would be proud to see a man such as Bill receive this award,” Bales said.
Penn State offensive line coach Dick Anderson introduced Shipley to the audience, which responded with a rousing standing ovation. Anderson noted that Shipley and Dave Rimington, the award’s namesake, share much in common.
“For one thing, they share the same birthday. But on a serious note, they both are extremely hard workers and competitive people. The more I came to know Dave, the more I thought about A.Q. and how similar the two are in character,” Anderson said.
About the Rimington Trophy
The nine-year old trophy is presented by the Boomer Esiason Foundation. Esiason created his foundation in 1993 to support research and treatment of cystic fibrosis. Esiason and Dave Rimington were teammates on the Cincinnati Bengals from 1984-87. Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first team All- America center at Nebraska in 1981 and 1982 during which he became the John Outland Trophy's only double winner as the nation's premiere college interior lineman.
Past recipients include Dominic Raiola (Nebraska. 2000), LeCharles Bentley (Ohio State, 2001), Brett Romberg (Miami, 2002), Jake Grove (Virginia Tech, 2003), co- winners David Baas (Michigan, 2004) and Ben Wilkerson (LSU, 2004), Greg Eslinger (Minnesota, 2005), Dan Mozes (West Virginia, 2006), and Jonathan Luigs (2007). Since its inception the Rimington Trophy Award has raised over $1.5 million for its benefactor, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It, in turn, is hosted by the Boomer Esiason Foundation which, to date, has raised nearly $72 million for Cystic Fibrosis research.
The Rimington Trophy is a fully accredited member of the National College Football Awards Association.
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