Marler Named Semifinalist for Groza Award
Oct 30, 2001 | Football
Oct. 30, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Tulane University junior Seth Marler (Lilburn, Ga.) has been named a semifinalist for the 2001 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission announced Tuesday.
Marler is one of 20 kickers recognized as a semifinalist. The three finalists for the Lou Groza Award will be announced November 12. All three will attend the award ceremony on Tuesday, December 4th, at the Sheraton West Palm Beach Hotel at CityPlace.
Tulane's junior kicker has compiled a perfect season to date. Marler has connected on all 15 of his field goal attempts in 2001 to lead the nation in percentage, and he is 32-of-32 on extra points. The Georgia native has made 17 consecutive field goals dating back to the final game of last season. Marler has scored seven field goals which have been from over 40 yards, including three of 50 yards or more. He connected on a 51-yard boot versus TCU and made a career-record 53-yarder versus East Carolina, the second-longest in Tulane history. He moved past longtime NFLer Eddie Murray into second place on the Wave charts for career field goals with his pair of kicks at UAB. He needs three to break the career record.
"There is no kicker in the country who has been as consistent as Seth Marler for Tulane this year," Green Wave head coach Chris Scelfo said. "With his distance and range, we feel that when we are inside the 40, we have a great chance for three points."
Last season, Marler was also a semifinalist for the Groza Award. In addition, he earned All-Louisiana Second Team honors.
The voters for the Lou Groza Award are comprised of Division I head coaches, sports writers and sportscasters from across the country, conference officials, various NFL kickers, and all previous Lou Groza Award winners.
The award, now in its 10th year, is named for NFL Hall-of-Fame kicker Lou Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954. Nicknamed "The Toe," Groza was one of the first people to truly make kicking an art form, and he helped usher in to football the idea that a player could be used exclusively for kicking.
More information on the Lou Groza Award is available by visiting the official web site at www.palmbeachsports.com/Groza. The site includes a brief biography of each semifinalist as well as a special interactive online voting section. The feature allows anyone to vote for whom they think should win the Lou Groza Award. The online voting feature is purely for fun and has no influence on the actual voting for the award.
