Brignone named to Rimington Trophy watch list

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State junior center J.C. Brignone has been named to the Rimington Trophy 2009 Spring Watch List, the Rimington committee announced Tuesday.

The Pass Christian, Miss., native started all 12 games during his sophomore season of 2008. Brignone posted an 80 percent or better blocking grade eight consecutive times, and was named Southeastern Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week following the Bulldogs' victory over Middle Tennessee.

The Rimington Trophy committee uses these four prestigious teams to determine a winner:

* American Football Coaches Association

* Walter Camp Foundation

* Sporting News

* Football Writers Association of America

The winner will be honored at the Rimington Trophy Presentation banquet at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska , on January 16, 2009.

The ten-year old trophy is presented by the Boomer Esiason Foundation. Past recipients include Nebraska 's Dominic Raiola, Ohio State 's LeCharles Bentley, Miami 's Brett Romberg, Virginia Tech's Jake Grove, co-winners Michigan 's David Baas and LSU's Ben Wilkerson, Minnesota 's Greg Eslinger, West Virginia 's Dan Mozes, Arkansas ' Jonathan Luigs, and Penn State's A.Q. Shipley. Since its inception the Rimington Trophy Award has raised over $1.3 million for the award's benefactor, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which is hosted by the Boomer Esiason Foundation that to date has raised over $73 milllion for CF Research.

Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy's only double winner as the nation's finest college interior lineman.

The Rimington Trophy is a fully accredited member of the National College Football Awards Association.