Baseball Basketball Crew Cross Country Football Golf Gymnastics Soccer Tennis Track & Field
Basketball Crew Cross Country Fencing Field Hockey Gymnastics Lacrosse Soccer Softball Tennis Track & Field Volleyball

Annual Report (PDF) Athlete of the Week Athlete of the Month Athletic Training Cheer & Dance Compliance &
Student Services Directions Facilities Hall of Fame Kids Club (PDF) Liacouras Center Life Skills Marketing & Promotions Merchandise Multimedia NCAA Recertification Self-Study Draft Report Owl Club Press Releases Prospective Student Athletes (PDF) Sponsorship Staff Directory SAAC Temple All-Access Ticket Information Traditions Visitor Information

  Printer-friendly format  |     Email this article  

May 7, 2008

NEW YORK - Temple redshirt senior Alex Derenthal (Davie, Fla.) is one of 42 football players named to the watch list for the 2008 Rimington Trophy, presented annually to the nation's top center.

Named Temple's offensive MVP in 2007, Derenthal enters the 2008 season having started 35 consecutive games. He has the most playing experience of any Owl. He also earned the team's best offensive lineman honor last season. Derenthal became the first player in school history to earn the team's MVP honor as a sophomore in 2006.

A 2008 preseason All-Mid-American Conference selection, Derenthal has also been heralded for his work off the field. Last fall he was named to the American Football Coaches Association's Good Works Team for his community service efforts.

The list includes two finalists from the 2007 watch list, as well as the 2007 winner of the Rimington Trophy, Arkansas' Jonathan Luigs. The Trophy has not had a repeat winner in its nine-year history. A total of seven players represent the Big-12 Conference. The PAC-10 Conference is represented by six players, while the ACC and SEC have five players each on the Watch List.

The nine-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 and Arkansas' Luigs. Since its inception, the Rimington Trophy 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 $65 million for CF research.

Dave 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. He and Esiason were teammates on the Cincinnati Bengals from 1984-87.

The winner is selected by determining the consensus All-America center pick from four existing All-America Teams (AFCA, Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News, FWAA). The recipient will be honored at an awards banquet at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Neb., on January 17, 2009.

Temple opens the 2008 season at Army on Friday, August 29. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. before a national television audience on ESPNU. The Owls host Connecticut on Sept. 6 at Lincoln Financial Field in their home opener.

Temple football season tickets are on sale now for as low as $75, and can be purchased by calling the Temple Ticket Office at 215-204-8499. Fans are encouraged to visit www.OwlsTix.com for full season ticket pricing information.