College Football Award Show Tosses The Little People A Bone With “Holder of the Year” Award

LifeOfaReilly9 years ago

The College Football Awards Show is always a bittersweet night. It serves as a reminder that bowl season is upon us and at the same time signifies the end to another season is near.

While I didn’t actually watch the show – I was too busy drowning my sorrows as the Raiders flushed my money down the drain – the highlight of the evening had to be the Holder of the Year Award.

Barely anyone knows what their team’s kicker’s name is. If you do, he either drilled or shanked the game-winning kick against your biggest rival; that’s just the fate in the life of a kicker. As for the holder, he could’ve been your freshman year roommate and you still wouldn’t be able to recite his name. Being a holder is one of those thankless jobs that serve as an afterthought.

Holders don’t exactly have the same presence that a normal positioned football player has at a postgame party. Odds are they wear their jersey out just as a reminder to chicks that, yes, they’re on the team.

At least, as a kicker, you have a chance at being remembered for something positive. When it comes to holders, they are forever just another face in the crowd. Unless, of course, they bobble a snap or keep the laces in during a crucial kick. If that were to occur, their name is forever tainted. At that point, you have no choice but to transfer and never show your face again.

I don’t think there’s any debating that being a holder is one of the most pressure packed positions in all of sports. Yet there was no way to earn individual recognition for their contributions on the field. That all changed in 2015 with Minnesota’s Pete Mortell, who introduced the Holder of the Year award and humbly named himself as the inaugural winner.If there’s one thing I want in my holder it’s a level of self-confidence that borders on arrogance. Pete certainly didn’t lack that in creating an award that will forever have his name attached to it.

This year the honor was bestowed upon Michigan’s Garrett Moores, who took the ball from Mortell and ran with it. Moores took a page out of coach Harbaugh’s playbook and made sure he left a lasting impression as the 2016 Holder of the Year. Moores even went as far as to give a shoutout to the team’s equipment manager. Talk about a night for the little people.