Colby Pursell Named To Rimington Trophy Watch List

BOULDER--Colby Pursell is one of 90 players on the Watch List for the Rimington Trophy, its committee announced Wednesday.  

The award is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I College Football.  The 17-year-old award has raised over $4.45 million for the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis.  

In 2005, Mark Fenton was one of six semifinalists for the award.  Ove the years, the Buffs have had several centers on the watch list with Pursell joining Fenton (2005, '06), Daniel Sanders (2007, '08), Keenan Stevens (2010), Gus Handler (2012, '13), Alex Kelley (2015) and Tim Lynott Jr. (2019).  

Pursell has 19 career games played with 17 career starts, which is third-most on the offensive side of the ball for the Buffs entering 2020.  He played in seven games last season, starting five a guard, missing the other games in the middle of the season due to illness.   He's no stranger to the center position, however, as he started all 12 games at the position as a redshirt freshman in 2018 and practiced the position as a true freshman in 2017.  

He was named to the NFF/Colorado Chapter All-Colorado second team at center in 2018.  He was a finalist for CU Freshman of the Year for all sports and given the Byron R. White Leadership Award.  He has been named to NFF/Colorado Chapter All-Academic team for each of the past two seasons.