The Paul Hornung Award is a college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 award that was created in January 2010 by the Louisville Sports Commission (LSC) with the support of Paul Hornung

Paul Hornung

Paul Vernon Hornung is a retired Hall of Fame professional football player who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1957-66...

, a native and resident of Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

 and member of the College Football Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame

The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

. The mission of the award is to recognize and reward versatile, high-level performers in major college football; to help preserve the legacy Hornung, of one of Louisville’s native sons and sports icons; and to promote Louisville as a great sports town.

Eponym

Paul Hornung

Paul Hornung

Paul Vernon Hornung is a retired Hall of Fame professional football player who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1957-66...

 is considered by many the most versatile player in the history of college and pro football. He won the 1956 Heisman Trophy

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

 at quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 for Notre Dame

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...

 and was the No. 1 pick in the 1957 NFL Draft

1957 NFL Draft

The 1957 National Football League Draft was held on November 27, 1956.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:-Round eight:-Round nine:-Round ten:...

. He played every position in the backfield during his career with the Irish, where he also punted, kicked, returned kicks and played defensive back

Defensive back

In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...

. While in the NFL

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

, he was an offensive back and kicker. He was a member of four NFL championship teams as an All-Pro

All-Pro

All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...

 halfback

Halfback (American football)

A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...

 for the Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

 and led the NFL in scoring from 1959 to 1961, setting the single season scoring record in 1960 with 176 points. He was named league MVP following the 1961 season.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible, a candidate must be in good standing and eligible on his team during the selection process, eligible with the NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 during the selection process and play significant time during most or all of the season. Decisions regarding status for the award will be made by the Oversight Committee. In addition to starting or playing significant downs on offense or defense, candidates will be measured by performance from among one or more of the following:

• Playing multiple positions on offense and/or multiple positions on defense
• Playing a significant role on special teams
• Performing as a two-way player who starts either on offense or defense and is used on the other side of the ball in some capacity
• Making a significant impact during big games and elevating the team's performance through leadership displayed by excelling in multiple roles

Winners

Year	Player	School
2010 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, or the college football season, began on Thursday, September 2, 2010. The season progressed through the regular season and bowl season, and concluded with the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game on Monday, January 10, 2011.-Rule changes for...	Owen Marecic Owen Marecic Owen Marecic is an American football player for the Cleveland Browns. He played at the collegiate level for Stanford University.-Early life:Marecic moved with his family around the United States following his father's career as an IT executive... , FB & LB	Stanford