In his first and only season with the Colorado State Rams, defensive end Lanston Tanyi was voted the most valuable player of the team by his teammates on Tuesday.

Tanyi, 22, earned a communications degree in four years at Appalachian State University before transferring to Colorado State to pursue a Master's degree in education human resources. After a season-ending foot surgery withheld Tanyi from the football field in 2010 at ASU, he was granted a medical red-shirt season, which gave him one year of eligibility to play at CSU in 2012.

With 77 tackles in 2012, Tanyi finished with the most tackles by a Rams player since the 1995 season, while also tallying three sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and six quarterback hurries.

On Tuesday, the team also voted for four players to be recognized as captains for the season, selecting Shaq Bell, Trent Matthews, Weston Richburg and James Skelton for the honors.