Georgia Football Players and Accolades

Clint Boling, Ben Jones, and Justin Houston have all been named to pre-season National watch lists for awards. This comes after they all had noticeable seasons last year for the Georgia Football Team.
All three of the mentioned players are upperclassmen, meaning they are juniors or seniors. Boling and Jones are on the watch list for the Outland Trophy, while Houston is on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. The Outland Trophy is given to lineman, mainly the tackles. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is given to outstanding defensive players.
Boling is regarded as a strong candidate for the award, being a two-time all-SEC performer. He also has a large degree of versatility, seeing as he played more than one position while acquiring these accolades. Boling was a key ingredient in Georgia’s run game last year, making key blocks when they were needed most. This showed late in the season, as the bulldogs scored eleven touchdowns in the last five games of last season.
Ben Jones has been an incredibly reliable player for the bulldogs. And that is not just opinion. It is backed up by statistics as well. Last year, Jones played in every single game, as well as every single game in the year before that. He is nothing if not the definition of dependable, and his hard work is paying dividends in the pre-season already.
Justin Houston is a proficient defensive end for the Georgia bulldogs. He led the team last year with fifteen tackles for loss, and seven and a half sacks. He is regarded as the best returning defensive player in the league, and how could he not be? He leads the South Eastern Conference’s returning players in both of those categories. The fact that he plays in what is widely regarded as the best conference in college football also helps his case for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. When you do the best against the best, you are the best.
In order to be nominated for these awards, a player must exhibit extreme prowess or capability at their position or positions. The general rule of thumb is that “If you do well, good things happen”. The stars of the college football landscape can attest to that statement. They are prime examples of it. By dominating their competition and acquiring awards, many of these student-athletes pave the way of their future towards becoming more than a student-athlete. Many strive to simply become an athlete, and make a career out of doing what they love. No matter what their aspirations may be, these student-athletes are giving themselves many options for the future. But for now, their eyes are set on those trophies.
Landon Willey is a 10th grader at Sebring High School in Sebring, Florida.