Michigan State’s standout running back, Javon Ringer, has been listed as a finalist for the Maxwell Award for the Collegiate Player of the Year. Not to be confused with the Heisman Trophy, which is the greater known of all the college football individual honors, the Maxwell will be awarded on December 11th, 2008. Last year’s winner was Florida’s Tim Tebow (who also won the Heisman.)
Javon Ringer has had an amazing year. He has had six 100+ yard games and leads the nation in touchdowns. I would say that he’s a very solid all around back, with strong skills in the areas of blocking, receiving and of course rushing. It would be awesome to see his efforts this seasons acknowledged as he has been a huge factor in the Spartans reaching a record of 8-2 at this point in the season.
The one thing I can see hurting Ringer in national award voting is his lack of a highlight reel. This article from the Detroit Free Press outlines that problem exactly. I even ran into this problem when trying to find some videos to embed into this blog post, the guy just gets it done a few yards at a time then pops a nice long run, but does so without a ton of flair.
Up the gut, beyond the tackles, it’s all the same to him!
As a side note, this guy really appears to have his head on straight as a human being and shows a lot of respect on the playing field. In a world that’s so full of hot shots, it’s awesome to see a running back stuff a touchdown down the defense’s throat and hand the ball to the referee at the end of the play with pride and dignity.
The last Michigan State University player to win the Maxwell Award was Brad Van Pelt in 1972.
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