Purdue Football's George Karlaftis Named to Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue junior defensive end George Karlaftis was named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List, the first watch list for the 2021 season. He is one of eight Big Ten defenders nominated for the trophy among a group of 42 total players.
Returning to the watch list in 2021 is Academic All-Big Ten and 2nd team All-Big Ten @TheGK3 from @BoilerFootball. #CharacterCounts pic.twitter.com/sKz56AH8WQ
— Lott IMPACT Trophy (@TheLottTrophy) June 15, 2021
“College defensive players are nominated to the Watch List based on the IMPACT on their teams on an off the field,” the website states. “IMPACT is an acronym for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. The 42 represents Ronnie Lott’s number during his legendary career.”
Last year, Northwestern linebacker Paddy Fisher won the award. He was the fourth player from the Big Ten to win the award since 2015, including Penn State’s Carl Nassib in 2015, Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers in 2016 and Iowa’s Josey Jewell in 2017.
Karlaftis appeared in just three games for the Boilermakers last season, and he compiled four total tackles and two sacks. Despite seeing limited time on the field, he managed to earn second-team All-Big Ten honors and was an Academic All-Big Ten selection.
As a freshman, Karlaftis started all 12 games while recording 54 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, two pass deflections, one forced fumble and one interception. His stellar season earned him first-team Associated Press Freshman All-American honors while also being named second-team All-Big Ten.
Here is the list of all the candidates from the Big Ten:
- Zach VanValkenburg, Iowa
- Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan
- JoJo Domann, Nebraska
- Brandon Joseph, Northwestern
- Zach Harrison, Ohio State
- PJ Mustipher, Penn State
- George Karlaftis, Purdue
- Jack Sanborn, Wisconsin
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- PURDUE TRIO EARNS ACADEMIC HONOR: Purdue football's George Karlaftis, Rondale Moore and Brennan Thienemen were honored as first-team Academic All-District 5. CLICK HERE
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.