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W. J. Voit Memorial Trophy

College football award

W. J. Voit Memorial Trophy
Summary

College football award

The Voit Trophy is presented to [[Bobby Garrett]] (left) in 1953.

The W. J. Voit Memorial Trophy was awarded by the Helms Athletic Foundation from 1951 to 1978 to the outstanding college football player on the Pacific Coast. The recipient was determined based on votes cast by West Coast football writers and later broadcasters as well. Award recipients include College Football Hall of Fame inductees, O. J. Simpson, Mike Garrett, Jim Plunkett, Joe Kapp, Craig Morton, Billy Kilmer, and Anthony Davis.

History

The trophy was named after German American entrepreneur William J. Voit (1881–1946), the founder of the W.J. Voit Rubber Company. In the 1950s and 1960s, a representative of the Voit organization presented the trophy at a banquet preceding the Rose Bowl game. In 1969, a Los Angeles Times columnist wrote the following about the Voit Trophy tradition:"Jim Plunkett was in Pasadena Monday to receive the 19th Annual Voit Memorial Trophy, which goes to the Pacific Coast's top player. The trophy stands nearly as high as most men who receive it, but Plunkett dwarfed the thing. ... The Voit Trophy, though, is an accurate mirror of later success in professional ball. Three of the NFL's top quarterbacks -- Joe Kapp, Billy Kilmer and Craig Morton -- all won it, as did such other pro players as Mike Garrett, Gary Beban and O. J. Simpson. Since the award was instituted in 1951, only one winner has failed to play pro ball of some sort."

In addition to the notable NFL players to win the Voit Trophy, the runners-up in the Voit voting included such Hall of Fame players as John Brodie (Voit runner-up in 1956), Mel Renfro (Voit runner-up in 1963), and Hugh McElhenny (Voit runner-up in 1951).

Unlike the Pop Warner Trophy, awarded each year to the top senior football player on the West Coast, the Voit Trophy was open to underclassmen. Accordingly, three players received the Voit Trophy in multiple years. The multi-year winners of the award are USC Trojans running back Jon Arnett (1955 and 1956), Stanford Cardinal quarterback Jim Plunkett (1969 and 1970), and USC tailback Anthony Davis (1972 and 1974).

USC and Stanford athletes won the Voit Trophy more than those at any other school, with USC athletes taking the trophy nine times and Stanford athletes doing so six times.

In 1975, the Pac-10 Conference began awarding its own Player of the Year award, diminishing the significance of the Voit Trophy. The award of the trophy was discontinued shortly thereafter.

Recipients

Recipients of the Voit Trophy are as follows:

YearRecipientPositionSchoolPointsRunners-upSource
1951Bill McCollEndStanford31Hugh McElhenny, Washington (27), Ollie Matson, USF (24)title=Tribe's McColl Captures First Voit Trophynewspaper=Los Angeles Timesdate=December 20, 1951page=3 (part IV)url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-tribes-mccoll-cap/181597265/via=Newspapers.com}}
1952Jim SearsHalfbackUSC53Donn Moomaw, UCLA (45), Elmer Wilhoite, USC (20)
1953Bobby GarrettQuarterbackStanford78Paul Cameron, UCLA (42), Paul Larson, QB, California (25)
1954Paul LarsonQBCalifornia50George Shaw, Oregon (41), Jack Ellena, UCLA (36)
1955Jon ArnettBackUSC
1956Jon ArnettBackUSC72John Brodie, Stanford (55), John Witte, Oregon St. (27)title=USC Rips It: Voit Trophy Winnerspublisher=petecarroll.comurl=http://www.petecarroll.com/index.cfm/pk/view/cd/NAA/cdid/400777/pid/400690}}
1957Dick WallenEndUCLA60Bob Newman, Wash. St. (30), Joe Francis, Oregon St. (26)title=UCLA's Wallen Voted Winner of Voit Trophynewspaper=Los Angeles Timesdate=December 19, 1957page=2 (part IV)url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-uclas-wallen-vote/181629795/via=Newspapers.com}}
1958Joe KappQuarterbackCalifornia117Dick Bass, College of the Pacific (36), Chris Burford, Oregon St. (19)
1959Bob SchloredtQuarterbackWashington110Chris Burford, Stanford (38)
1960Billy KilmerTailbackUCLARoy McKasson, Washington, Marlin McKeever, USC
1961Hugh CampbellWide receiverWash. St.59Terry Baker, Oregon St. (33), Bobby Smith, UCLA
1962Terry BakerQuarterbackOregon St.133Hal Bedsole, USC (43)
1963Vern BurkeSplit endOregon St.57Mel Renfro, Oregon (45), Craig Morton, California (38)
1964Craig MortonQuarterbackCalifornia96Mike Garrett, USC (57), Bob Berry, Oregon (49)
1965Mike GarrettTailbackUSC147Gary Beban, UCLA (80), Ray Handley, Stanford (7)
1966Pete PiferFullbackOregon St.102Gary Beban, UCLA (80), Mel Farr, UCLA (63)
1967Gary BebanQuarterbackUCLA153O. J. Simpson, USC (119), Bill Enyart, Oregon St. (7)
1968O. J. SimpsonTailbackUSC180Bill Enyart, Oregon St. (55), Gene Washington, Stanford (30)
1969Jim PlunkettQuarterbackStanford128Dennis Shaw, San Diego St. (54), Jimmy Gunn USC (17)
1970Jim PlunkettQuarterbackStanford158Dennis Dummit, UCLA (49), Sonny Sixkiller, Washington (30)
1971Don BunceQuarterbackStanford81Bernard Jackson, Wash. St. (72), Jeff Siemon, Stanford (20)
1972Anthony DavisTailbackUSC107Charle Young, USC (32); Dan Fouts, Oregon (30)
1973Kermit JohnsonHalfbackUCLA
1974Anthony DavisTailbackUSC
1975Chuck MuncieHalfbackCalifornia109John Sciarra, UCLA (49), Ricky Bell (44)
1976Ricky BellTailbackUSC120Jeff Dankworth, UCLA (31), Duncan McColl, Stanford (27)
1977Guy BenjaminQuarterbackStanfordWarren Moon
1978Charles WhiteTailbackUSC

References

References

  1. "Voit History". Voit.
  2. (1961-12-27). "Gophers Favored In Writers' Poll". Los Angeles Times.
  3. Jack Geyer. "Wizard of Odds: Troy Favored by 7 Points, but Hill Calls Game Even". Los Angeles Times.
  4. Jack Geyer. (1956-12-18). "Luncheon: Iowa Rugged, Says Team's Line Coach". Los Angeles Times.
  5. Jack Geyer. (1957-12-24). "Hayes Scoffs At Big Odds On Buckeyes". Los Angeles Times.
  6. Al Wolf. (1959-12-29). "Bowl Coaches Refuse To Sing Blues". Los Angeles Times.
  7. Dwight Chapin. (1969-12-31). "He Could Use The Money: Plunkett Reveals He Was Never Close To Accepting Pro Offer". Los Angeles Times.
  8. (December 20, 1951). "Tribe's McColl Captures First Voit Trophy". Los Angeles Times.
  9. (December 12, 1952). "Sears Selected for Voit Award". Los Angeles Times.
  10. (December 3, 1953). "Bobby Garrett Awarded Voit Football Trophy". Los Angeles Times.
  11. (December 8, 1954). "Paul Larson Wins Voit Grid Trophy". Los Angeles Times.
  12. (December 15, 1954). "Larson Receives Voit Gridiron Award". The Oregonian.
  13. (December 14, 1955). "Arnett Wins Voit Trophy". The Inter Lake.
  14. (December 27, 1955). "Jon Arnett Awarded Voit Trophy as Coast's Best Football Player". Los Angeles Times.
  15. "USC Rips It: Voit Trophy Winners". petecarroll.com.
  16. (December 12, 1956). "Arnett Receives Voit Grid Award". Los Angeles Times.
  17. (December 19, 1957). "UCLA's Wallen Voted Winner of Voit Trophy". Los Angeles Times.
  18. (December 19, 1958). "Kapp Winner of Voit Trophy". Los Angeles Times.
  19. (December 28, 1959). "Bob Schloredt Wins Voit Trophy". Desert Dispatch (Barstow, CA).
  20. Alex Kahn. "For Bob Schloredt: Voit Trophy Presentation Climaxes Cinderella Story". Daily Breeze (Redondo Beach).
  21. (December 7, 1960). "Kilmer Receives Voit Trophy, West's Best". The Modesto Bee.
  22. (December 8, 1960). "Kilmer Snags Voit Memorial Trophy". Pasadena Independent.
  23. (December 20, 1961). "Hugh Campbell grid player of year". Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer.
  24. (December 24, 1961). "Cougar Campbell Wins Voit Award". Nevada State Journal.
  25. (December 8, 1962). "Terry Baker Voit Winner". Observer (La Grande, Oregon).
  26. (December 10, 1963). "Beaver End Burke Wins Voit Award". Oakland Tribune.
  27. (December 10, 1963). "Beavers' Burke Shades Renfro for Voit Award". Los Angeles Times.
  28. (December 10, 1964). "Voit Grid Award to Morton". San Francisco Examiner.
  29. (December 11, 1964). "Voit Trophy: Morton Voted Best on West Coast". Star News (Culver City).
  30. (December 7, 1965). "Garrett Given Voit Award As Best on Pacific Coast". Daily Breeze.
  31. (December 7, 1965). "Garrett Selected Top Coast Player". Oakland Tribune.
  32. (December 7, 1966). "Pete Pifer Captures W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy (part 1)". The Oregonian.
  33. (December 7, 1966). "Pete Pifer Captures W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy (part 2)". The Oregonian.
  34. (December 5, 1967). "Beban Voted Coveted Voit Award". The Sun (San Bernardino).
  35. (December 10, 1968). "It's O. J. Again, Naturally: Receives W. J. Voit Trophy: No Contest in Balloting". The Spokesman-Review.
  36. (December 9, 1969). "Voit Memorial Trophy: Plunkett Wins". The Times-Standard (Eureka, CA).
  37. (December 9, 1969). "Tribe Tosser Takes Voit Trophy: Plunkett Is Named Best Gridder On Coast". The Times (San Mateo, CA).
  38. (December 9, 1970). "Plunkett Grabs Voit Football Award Again". The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA).
  39. (December 15, 1971). "Bunce Winner of Voit Trophy". Los Angeles Times.
  40. (December 15, 1971). "Indians' Bunce Honored: Voit Award To Stanford Star". Morning News-Gazette (Martinez, CA).
  41. (December 28, 1972). "Davis Captures Coveted Award: Trojan Sophomore Tailback Selected Winner of 22nd Voit Memorial Trophy". The Valley News (Van Nuys).
  42. (December 26, 1974). "Davis Again Given Voit Grid Honor". The Valley News.
  43. (December 19, 1975). "Muncie of Cal Voit Award winner". Goleta Valley Today.
  44. (December 10, 1976). "Bell Runaway Choice for Voit". Oakland Tribune.
  45. (December 22, 1977). "Benjamin gets Voit grid award". Palo Alto Times.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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