HOUSTON, Texas – Senior tight end Isaiah Likely was one of 80 players named to the 2021 Rotary Lombardi Award watch list, it was announced on Thursday by The Rotary Lombardi Award in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Houston. The Rotary Lombardi Award is given annually to the college football offensive or defensive lineman, who in addition to outstanding performance and ability, best exemplifies the character and discipline of NFL Hall of Fame Head Coach Vince Lombardi. 
 
This year's watch list is filled with talent from a multitude of schools and conferences, which should make for an exciting voting process. To be considered for the Rotary Lombardi Award, players must be an NCAA FBS College Football team member and meet the following qualifications:

• Be a down Lineman, end to end, either on offense or defense, setting up no further than ten (10) yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of the snap.
• Be a linebacker on defense, setting up no further than five (5) yards deep from the line of scrimmage. 
• Must not come out of the offensive backfield and set up on the line of scrimmage as a blocker or a receiver or listed in the program as an offensive Back or receiver.
• Be eligible to participate in the current season.

Likely, who was named to the Biletnikoff Award and John Mackey Award preseason watch lists, was also named to the 2021 Pro Football Focus (PFF) College Football Preseason All-America third team, the 2021 Preseason All-Sun Belt first team, and both the 2021 Phil Steele and Athlon Sports Preseason All-Sun Belt first teams.
 
A two-time All-Sun Belt selection, garnering first-team honors in 2020 and third-team recognition in 2019, Likely was named to the 2020 Pro Football Focus (PFF) All-America second team and earned a spot on the 2020 Phil Steele Sun Belt Conference All-Conference first team last season despite playing with an injured foot that required offseason surgery for most of the season.
 
In 2020, he played in 11 of the 12 games for the Chants on the season, totaling 30 catches for 601 yards and five touchdowns. His 601 receiving yards were eighth in the Sun Belt overall but first among all Sun Belt tight ends, while his average yards per catch of 20.03 yards per reception was first in the Sun Belt and 10th nationally among all players. He caught at least one pass in 10 of the 11 games in which he played in and recorded catches of 75, 72, and 57 yards on the season, all three of which were the longest pass plays on the season for CCU's offense.
 
Over his three years at CCU, Likely has played in 35 games, recording 74 receptions for 1,138 yards and 15 touchdowns.
 
Honorary Chair and Famed Green Bay Packer Jerry Kramer, 1987 Winner Chris Spielman, the four nominees, and their coaches will attend the award ceremony on Dec. 8th in Houston, Texas. 

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