Dec. 4, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame senior center Jeff Faine was named one of five finalists today for the Dave Rimington Award presented to the nation’s premier college football center. Faine joins a distinguished list, which includes Wisconsin’s Al Johnson, Boston College’s Dan Koppen, Iowa’s Bruce Nelson and Miami’s Brett Romberg.
The winner will be honored at a presentation banquet at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Neb., on Dec. 14. An elite auction will also take place with all proceeds benefiting the Nebraska Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Dave Rimington, the award’s namesake, was a consensus All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982. He also became the John Outland Trophy’s only double winner as the nation’s finest interior lineman.
“It is a great honor that I be selected as a finalist for this award along with such great players as Al, Dan, Bruce and Brett,” Faine says.
“It is a tribute to our team and the season we have had.”
“Jeff is in a class by himself,” Irish head coach Tyrone Willingham says.
“There are not many players that play the game at the level Jeff does. In some regards, he’s a throwback to some of the really tough guys that played the game when there was no facemask. He plays the game with that kind of mentality and it’s a great way to play. That’s what makes him special because most guys cannot play like that.”