John Simon named semifinalist for Lott Trophy

For the second straight season, Ohio State defensive lineman John Simon has been named a semifinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, as noted by the Big Ten's official website. IMPACT is an acronym that stands for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. It's also a way to get around saying "this guy hits people really hard and is a great player."

The award is named after Ronnie Lott, who was an amazing player at the NCAA level with USC and at the NFL level with the San Francisco 49ers. A National Voter Panel of more than 300 former coaches, players, members of the media, members of the Lott IMPACT Foundation Board of Directors, and former Lott Trophy winners will select the winner.

Simon recently earned his second Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors, for his performance against Wisconsin on Saturday. He racked up four sacks in that game, and leads the conference with nine. He also has 14.5 tackles for loss.