Even in sports, all awards are political awards in some fashion, symbols of perceived personal or professional virtue at least as much as they are of performance. Name a prize -- Oscars, Nobels, Heismans, anything -- and its winners are frequently steeped in sentiment on top of achievement, as a matter of course.

But the Butkus Award, handed out annually since 1985 to "the best of the best" high school, college and pro linebacker of the year, may be the first award to consider eschewing achievement entirely in this year's selection, unless inspirational charity work has become more important to playing linebacker than actually playing linebacker:

The Butkus Award for the top linebacker in college football could go to a player who isn’t expected to make it onto the field this season.

Boston College's Mark Herzlich was among the 16 semifinalists announced on Friday. Herzlich is out for the season while recovering from a rare form of cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma. He has helped raise more than $80,000 for research and education about the disease.

Award namesake Dick Butkus noted that the honor is also designed to remind the players "that they have a responsibility to serve as role models and to give back to society."

See all of the finalists here. Herzlich, the ACC's Defensive Player of the Year and Butkus finalist in 2008 and a likely first-round draft pick if he'd left B.C. a year early, was an obvious contender before his shocking diagnosis in May, and may be one again: His doctors said earlier this month that Herzlich's cancer was almost completely gone, and he vows to return for another season next fall.

But being the purist that I am -- that is, assuming playing linebacker is worth awarding in itself, and is the point of the existence of the Butkus -- I'm going to hardheartedly assume that Herzlich's inclusion in the semifinal round is a cursory gesture and a bit of extra publicity for his good work, and that his name won't appear on among the list of finalists next month. If so, fine; I can't think of any egregious exclusions who absolutely deserved his slot. If that's not the case, and Herzlich remains a contender as a finalist, I'll take that as a sign that I'm taking the art/craft of linebacking way too seriously, and accordingly will be sure to never take seriously the only widely recognized award devoted specifically to its practice again. If the committee prefers to award public service and/or inspirational stories, it should change the requirements to reflect that.

Not surprisingly, Herzlich is not the only head-scratcher on the semifinal list: Penn State's Sean Lee, who missed all of 2008 with a torn ACL and has missed half his team's games with a sprained knee this year, is there, as is Michigan's Obi Ezeh, consistently the target of disappointment and ire from fair-minded Wolverine fans who scrupulously review and grade every play. (Wolverine guru Brian Cook points out privately that the player who consistently grades off the charts in his film reviews, Brandon Graham, was snubbed this week by the Lombardi Award.) Which begs the question: Is it better to play poorly, or not play at all?

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