Oregon State's Langsdorf nominated for FedEx Orange Bowl Courage Award

DALLAS (FWAA) - Oregon State's Danny Langsdorf has been nominated for the FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award, to be announced at the end of the 2007 season. Langsdorf, Oregon State's offensive coordinator, donated a kidney last summer to Laurie Cavanaugh, the wife of Oregon State offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh.

Laurie Cavanaugh's family has a history of kidney disease. Her kidney function was operating at 10 percent capacity when the operation occurred. The Cavanaugh family had been looking for a donor match for more than a year when Langsdorf suggested he should be tested. When he learned he was a match, Langsdorf volunteered one of his kidneys.

"It's incredible what Danny has done," Mike Cavanaugh told the Portland Tribune. "You talk about a miracle gift - sacrificing to save somebody's life. All the things you talk about in coaching about how we're a family ... how much better a family can you get than that?"

Said Oregon State coach Mike Riley: "This whole thing is a good description of the kind of guy Danny Langsdorf is. What he did is bigger than all the stuff we do as coaches."

For the second straight year, the Football Writers Association of America and the FedEx Orange Bowl will announce a weekly nominee each Wednesday during the season. A blue-ribbon panel will determine the winner from all of the nominees. The winner of the FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award will be announced in December and be presented with the trophy.

The Courage Award was created by ESPN The Magazine's senior writer Gene Wojciechowski, also a FWAA member. A select group of writers from the FWAA vote on the winner each year. The requirements for nomination include displaying courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship.

Previous winners of the FWAA's Courage Award are Clemson's Ray Ray McElrathbey (2006), the Tulane football team (2005), Memphis' Haracio Colen (2004), San Jose State's Neil Parry (2003) and Toledo's William Bratton (2002).

2007 FedEx Orange Bowl Courage Award Nominees
· Sept. 12: Brian Kajiyama, Hawaii
· Sept. 19: Terry Clayton, Kentucky
· Sept. 26: Danny Langsdorf, Oregon State