To be considered for the Rotary Lombardi Award players must be a Division I college football team member and meet the following qualifications:

• Be a down lineman, end-to-end, either on offense or defense, setting up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of snap.
• Be a linebacker on defense, setting up no farther than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
• May not come out of the offensive backfield and set up on the line of scrimmage as a blocker or receiver, or be listed as a back or receiver.
• Shows leadership, courage, desire, respect for authority and discipline.

The voting electorate is made up of the head coaches from all Division I schools, sports media personnel from across the country and former winners and finalists of the Rotary Lombardi Award. Currently the total number of voters is approximately 500.

The Rotary Lombardi Award Watchlist is published in March. Players that are All-American and First-team All-Conference as voted by the coaches and that meet the criteria for the award are placed on the preliminary Rotary Lombardi Award Watchlist. The watchlist is updated during the year as players are honored for pre-season All-Conference teams.

A second round of voting is performed in mid-October to form the list of four finalists who make the trip to Houston for the Award Presentation. A final vote is accomplished in early December to determine the winner and the decision is announced at the Award Presentation.