Michigan football linebacker Junior Colson won the Lott IMPACT Trophy on Sunday night, given annually to the college football player who makes the greatest impact on and off the field.
Colson was given the 20th annual award from Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott, the namesake of the honor, at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach, California. He led the Wolverines with 71 tackles — nobody else on the team had more than 45 — with two tackles for loss and a pair of quarterback hurries.
According to the award's website, IMPACT stands integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity, which U-M's middle linebacker also brought off the field.
[ MUST LISTEN: Make "Hail Yes!" your go-to Michigan Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts ( Apple , Spotify ) ]
Colson was at Somerset Mall in Troy last week along with running back Blake Corum , defensive back Mike Sainristil and a host of other Wolverines for a toy drive. Once fans donated a toy, they could take a picture with their favorite Michigan football players — and the athletes could choose where to donate the gifts.
TRENDING: Jim Harbaugh and U-M football have so much to do, before even getting to Alabama
Colson, a native of Haiti and All-Big Ten linebacker, works with Mitch Albom's Have Faith Haiti organization , which he will use as the vehicle to send toys back to his home country.
Colson, who has played in 41 games and made 34 starts at linebacker, is now the third U-M player to win the award; he joins Jabrill Peppers (2016) and Aidan Hutchinson (2021), both of whom were Heisman finalists when they won the award.
Former Michigan Heisman winner Charles Woodson was also given an honorary award in 2021.
Utah defensive end Jonah Elliss, UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu and Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner were the other three finalists to be this year's recipient. Michigan will receive a $25,000 donation to its general scholarship fund in Colson's name, and the other finalists' schools will each receive $5,000.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's Junior Colson named Lott IMPACT Trophy winner
