Greg Joseph Named Semifinalist For The 2017 Lou Groza
Greg Joseph, a Florida Atlantic University graduate student and member of the Owls’ football team, has been named as a semifinalist for the 2017 Lou Groza Collegiate Place Kicker Award, as announced by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission on Thursday.
Joseph is one of nine that comprise the 20-man list who has made at least one 50-yard field goal and one of three who converting overall at better than 90 percent accuracy.
On the season, the Boca Raton resident and American Heritage-Delray product is 10-of-11 on field goals. His lone miss was a 56-yard attempt that was blocked, and he set the all-time school record for the longest make, a 54-yarder versus Navy. That marks one of four he has connected on from better than 40 yards.
Joseph also serves as the team’s kickoff specialist, where he has booted 55 kicks of which 39 have been touchbacks (71 percent), and opponents have returned just 16. His streak of 115 consecutive PAT’s was broken earlier this season, but it has been started anew. He also holds nearly every FAU career kicking record including: PATs (139), PATs attempted (141), field goals (52), field goals attempted (72), and total points (295). 
Joseph, who graduated in the spring of 2017 with a degree in exercise science and health promotion and is seeking a MBA, serves as the FAU President of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.
He has been recognized by Conference USA twice for his Spirit of Service. He has led the “Let’s SAC Hunger” initiative, organized a team volunteer troupe for the Jason Taylor Foundation’s annual “Cool Gear for the School Year” program, coached youth soccer and has worked with the Giving Tree to provide gifts for children during the holidays. Most recently, he gathered his teammates for the second consecutive year to help paint a house for the less fortunate. He credits his mother with getting him involved with “Paint Your Heart Out” as a young boy. In July he gathered his special teams unit along with the offensive linemen to fully paint the outside of a house in less than two hours.
The Groza Award is named for NFL Hall of Fame kicker Lou “The Toe” Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954. Although an All-Pro offensive lineman as well, Groza ushered in the notion that there should be a place on an NFL roster for a kicker.Groza Award semifinalists will be voted on by a panel of more than 100 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, former Groza finalists, and current NFL kickers to select the three finalists. These finalists will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 21 and honored at the 26th annual Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Awards Banquet on Monday, Dec. 4 in Palm Beach County. The same panel then selects the winner, who will be announced live on ESPN at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Thursday, Dec. 7.
Since the first Lou Groza Award was handed out in 1992, 25 finalists, including 14 winners, have gone on to appear in the NFL, earning nine trips to the Pro Bowl and taking home five Super Bowls. That list includes 2017 NFL kickers Dan Bailey, Randy Bullock, Mason Crosby, Jake Elliott, Ka’imi Fairbairn, Kai Forbath, Graham Gano, Zane Gonzalez, Dustin Hopkins, Younghoe Koo, Mike Nugent, Cairo Santos, Caleb Sturgis, and Blair Walsh.
