After being passed over for the Bednarik, Nagurski and Lombardi honors earlier in the week, Little Animal finally bagged the award he coveted most, winning the Butkus Award last night in Orlando.
Just how much does he love it?
"I am going to cuddle with that thing."
Consider that your answer.
Laurinaitis joined Andy Katzenmoyer in becoming the second Buckeye to claim the honor in the 23 year history of the award.
In case you're interested, the WWL's got a nice little historical award tracker if you wanna stroll down memory lane.
Comments
I might get yelled at for this, but as good as Laurinaitis is, and as sweet as Hawk was, my vote goes to Randy Gradishar as our best LB. If Woody says he's the best he's coached at the position, I'd have to agree as well. Why no Gradishar in the poll?
Goodpoint SMV, but Woody didn't get a chance to coach the others.....I almost think its a wash because we have som many good linebackers......seriously the should call us THE Linebacker U and tell Penn State to shut up till they can win more than 1 Big Ten Title in a decade.
SVM,
I struggled where to the draw the line so I used the "Other" category. That said, Gradishar rightfully deserved his own line with guys like Marek, Pepper, Tovar etc holding up the Other field. Not seeing Gradishar play first hand was likely a factor since he was an All American the same year I was born.
Honestly, I'd probably vote Spielman, Hawk and Katzenmoyer ahead of Little Animal. Not hatin', just sayin'.
Don't forget Diggs, he was a hell of a hitter and an All-American.....never seems to get the credit the others do though!
I think matt wilhelm should be looked at. He is often looked over since he played on the same defence as mike doss, but he was an all-american and led us to a national championship. If you go back and look he made a lot of big plays late in games to help keep us undefeated.
Damn. Can't disagree Andrew...we've just had too many great linebackers to list them all!
yeah, as Buckeyes here, there's only good memories that come from reminiscing about all the great linebackers we had at the real Linebacker U (in my humble opinion, and I'm almost positive there's an index out there to be constructed that can prove that when considering things like 1st/2nd All-Big Ten awards, All-American awards, et al). Of course, I was born in 1984 and raised in USC/UCLA territory, so my first observations were of the national championship team my freshmen year, but nonetheless, I did a lot of reading on Buckeye legends as I became infatuated with all-things The Ohio State University... and hence, my observation that Gradishar was a monster on the field considering some of his gaudy stats.
Oh, and for what it's worth, I do agree with Chris' assertion about the place of Little Animal. Great linebackers can't be written out of plays, good ones can. It's gotten more difficult to write Laurinaitis out of plays as the season's progressed, but you could not keep Hawk away from the ball. ever. That said, I don't have statistics on hand to prove that, just a general observation of watching the two play. Like Chris said, not hatin', just sayin'. If I'm wrong, please let me know.
hey anybody else see troy smith score a TD tonight? i know it was garbage time against back ups but it does my heart good to see him playing football...maybe billick will listen to madden and play him for the rest of the season
definitely did, and was definitely geeked out for him, even though the Ravens have the Browns' Super Bowl XXXV title that they've yet to return. Good week for a few Buckeyes at the pro level. Troy Smith got his first playing time and scored a TD, Gonzo put up monster numbers and scored his first TD (I think) in a blowout victory and Mike Vrabel, well, Mike Vrabel was just unblockable.
Sorry folks, but please explain to me why he won this award. No doubt he is a good LB, but Connor and Dizor both easily had JL beat in every measurable category except for interceptions, which was 2-1. Seems like a recipient of the media hype for being the Little Animal.
I can't totally disagree, TRC...Heck, I've been wondering where J Leman is on these lists...
J Leman is the man, I just wish he wouldn't have been so much of a man that second week in November. Fortunately for us, he's USC's problem now.
That said, part of the problem in comparing players on defense like Laurinaitis, Dizon, and Connor is that the NCAA and every other stats site I've come across only measures stats in absolutes or aggregates (total sacks, total tackles, TFL, et al) and not as a meaningful average. Some stats sites do have a measure for diving total tackles by games played, but that's essentially a meaningless statistic since it's dividing by a constant, since basically everybody plays twelve games (assuming everyone is healthy). If the NCAA (or someone) had some kind of measure for total snaps played, that could be divided by total tackles to provide a more accurate measure for what I think, offhand, is going on with Laurinaitis' statistics: he played on a defense that, on the average, got off the field quicker and stayed off the field. Granted, I might have the memory of the Akron game skewing my observation, but that should explain (if true) a large part of why Laurinaitis' total stats were dwarved by Connor (9th best defense, still damn good) and Dizon (60-somethingth best defense). Either way, such a statistic, if it existed, could control for the great/good/mediocre/bad defense distinction.
"...seriously the should call us THE Linebacker U and tell Penn State to shut up till they can win more than 1 Big Ten Title in a decade."
That's very clever, jerka$$, but also a huge bunch of crap.
Congrats to that overrated Laurinitus for stealing the Butkus from Connor, who's obviously the better player and much more deserving of the honor. Laurinitus should bend over for Musberger (and he probably already does) for creating the myth that he's actually a good football player.
Right......jerka$$? classy.....you don't see me complaining about Hawk getting robbed when he didn't won the Butkus. Oh yeah.....who was voted defensive player of the year in the conference by the coaches (the guys who had to game plan against them both).......I can't seem to remember maybe you could help me out with that.
Typical PSU arrogance. I can remember a time when they thought they'd be playing in the Rose Bowl every year. Since they were the only "east" coast team of any note back in the day they garnered a lot of media attention. They are no better than a middle of the pack team in an average conference that was used to beating up on the likes of Temple and Rutgers year after year to get to a New Years Day game.
Oh....and Gradishar is the best LB ever at tOSU.
anybody have a link or able to come up with lists of All-Americans to compare tOSU and PSU linebackers?
Laurinaitis and Conner are both great players and both are projected to be first round selections in the NFL draft (assuming JL leaves early). I don't know how PSU fans can be so upset considering the difference between the players in terms of ability is small if anything. As for the stats, well if that was the main driver than McKillop from Pitt would be the winner of the award. But he wasn't even a finalist. TRC, if a guy is a junior who is expected to go in the first round of the NFL draft, then his ability is more than just "media hype".
Duh...that last comment was mine. Don't know why the name wasn't filled in that time.
The arguements are fair. Its the story any time there is a vote of opinion. The Heisman is a classic example, of what people value in a player, the run they get from media, etc. (That being said, Tebow was an OK choice IMO, though Dixon was the man until he blew his knee)
Its not that JL isnt a good player, he will do well on Sunday as well. I look at a player that set the career tackle record @ Linebacker U, just an opinion that he was more deserving. Guess since they send out 429 awards post season, that its nice everyone gets one.
WIL - Thank you for being a Buckeye. I love it!
Wil was born to argue on behalf of Buckeye fans. Trust me I know...I've sat through many arguments he's had with the brother he doesn't claim b/c he's a Michigan fan (Wil we know he's a loser).
I actually heard from a reliable source that Wil had sex with a transvestite last week... but who knows, right? It's all heresay on these blogs, really. He loves the Buckeyes and that's all that counts in his life. No one can argue with a guy like that! He knows how to party!!
She wasn't a transvestite, she was a transsexual. ha! (The scarier part is that I actually know the difference)
Just kidding......it was really KJB's sister. (Sorry Elizabeth, he was going to find out sooner or later)
Always Bucknuts 2007, who was your reliable source? Kirk Herbstreit?
To all you Buckeye fans. You may as well revel in the glory of your boy Laurinaitis winning the Butkus award because that is the last thing your team will be winning this season after the LSU Tigers kick the crap out of your team. Go Tigers!
Speaking of having sex with Trannys, Kirk Herbstreit was spotted at Grill 27 in purple drag and making out with Joe Schmo. Sources say; Joe Schmo fully enjoyed a hearty skirt-steak to go along with an assortment of 27 frilly specialty drinks.
Herbstreit enoyed the roasted goat cheese with toast points and a declicious serving of pesto-marinated tofu greens for sprout lovers to go with his grilled panini.
Some sources also mentioned, that the staff refused to make an order of National Champion nachos for Herbstreit & Joe Schmo, due to their heavy mouth breathing and excessive amounts of slobber they were generating while dinning. Not too mention, all that sissy purple they were wearing.