Hello Celebritys

The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has announced TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes as one of eight semifinalists for the 2009 Lott Trophy.

Named after Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, the Lott Trophy is awarded to college football¹s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. In its sixth year, the Lott Trophy is the first college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.

Hughes is extremely involved in the community. Among a myriad of activities, he has been a mentor at the Fortress Youth Development Center in Fort Worth. He also routinely speaks to elementary and middle-school kids while volunteering at youth football clinics. Hughes is on pace to graduate this spring, in four years, with a degree in communications.

A 2008 consensus All-American, Hughes received a Local Hero Award from Bank of America last month for his work in the community. He was honored with local leaders at a luncheon at the Dallas Cowboys' stadium in Arlington.

Hughes has 10 1/2 tackles for loss, including nine sacks, for No. 4 TCU (9-0, 5-0).

A native of Sugar Land, Texas, Hughes appeared on all five Midseason All-America teams released (Sporting News, SI.com, CBSSports.com, CollegeFootballNews.com, Phil Steele's).

Hughes is one of four finalists for the Rotary Lombardi Award, one of 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award and one of 16 semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award.

The other Lott Trophy semifinalists are safety Eric Berry (Tennessee), safety Taylor Mays (USC), defensive tackle Ndaumkong Suh (Nebraska), defensive tackle Gerald McCoy (Oklahoma), linebacker Rolando McClain (Alabama), defensive end Sam Acho (Texas) and defensive end Eric Norwood (South Carolina).

Sponsored by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation in Newport Beach, the award is given to the player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity.