Contact Center Solutions Industry News

[November 22, 2005]

The Sports Network Announces the Walter Payton Finalists

HATBORO, Pa., Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sports Network, the nation's premier real-time sports wire service, whose Internet website, http://www.sportsnetwork.com/, is one of the most viewed sports sites in the world, has announced the finalists for the 19th Annual Walter Payton Award for the outstanding player in Division I-AA collegiate football, as well as the finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award for the outstanding defensive player in the division and the Eddie Robinson Award, named for the legendary coach, to the division coach whose achievements for the past season have been noted and voted upon as exemplary by the media and other coaches in the division.
The winners will be announced at the official awards presentation to be held at the Sheraton Read House in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Thursday, December 15, on the eve of the Division I-AA national championship game, also to be held in Chattanooga.
This year's Walter Payton Award finalists are: Jermaine Austin, FB, Georgia Southern; David Ball, WR, New Hampshire; Omar Cuff, RB, Delaware; Bruce Eugene, QB, Grambling State; Nick Hartigan, RB, Brown; Lex Hilliard, RB, Montana; Travis Lulay, QB, Montana State; Ingle Martin, QB, Furman; Erik Meyer, QB, Eastern Washington; Barrick Nealy, QB, Texas State; Laurent Robinson, WR, Illinois State; Joe Rubin, RB, Portland State; Joel Sambursky, QB, Southern Illinois; Ricky Santos, QB, New Hampshire; Steve Silva, RB, Holy Cross; and Richie Williams, QB, Appalachian State.
This year's Buck Buchanan Award finalists are: Maurice Bennett, LB, Lafayette; Antoine Bullock, DE, Duquesne; Jeff Charleston, DE, Idaho State; Zak DeOssie, LB, Brown; Reed Doughty, S, Northern Colorado; Justin Durant, LB, Hampton; Brady Fosmark, DE, Weber State; William Freeman, LB, Furman; Chris Gocong, DE, Cal Poly; Brent Hawkins, DE, Illinois State; Brian Hulea, LB, Villanova; Shannon James, S, Massachusetts; Jay McCareins, DB, Princeton; Marques Murrell, DE, Appalachian State; Chad Nkang, LB, Elon; and Cameron Siskowic, LB, Illinois State.
This year's Eddie Robinson Award finalists are: David Bailiff, Texas State; Dick Biddle, Colgate; Dave Clawson, Richmond; Rich Ellerson, Cal Poly; Phil Estes, Brown; Mark Farley, Northern Iowa; Matt Griffin, Tennessee-Martin; Jim Harbaugh, San Diego; Jon Heacock, Youngstown State; Ron McBride, Weber State; Sean McDonnell, New Hampshire; Jerry Moore, Appalachian State; Melvin Spears, Grambling State; Bob Spoo, Eastern Illinois; Joe Taylor, Hampton; and Jay Thomas, Nicholls State.
The Sports Network established the Walter Payton Player of the Year Award in 1987, and it is presented annually to the most outstanding college football player on the Division I-AA level. The winner is chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports information directors from the division. When the award was established, it was the only such award to be presented to an individual player in I-AA football. It has since been joined by the Buck Buchanan Award, which was established in 1995.
Payton, who played his college ball for Jackson State, set the NCAA record for points scored in a career with 464. He scored 66 touchdowns for the Tigers, while rushing for 3,563 yards. Payton also kicked five field goals and 53 PATs. In his four-year career at JSU, he set nine school records, six of which still stand today.
However, Payton's collegiate accomplishments pale in comparison to the numbers he posted in his professional career. When he retired, Payton was the NFL's all-time leading rusher with 16,726 yards, and is still the Chicago Bears all-time leading scorer with 750 points. Upon his retirement, Payton was the holder of eight NFL records and 28 Bears records. In 1977, at the age of 23, Payton became the youngest player to be voted NFL MVP. He added a second league MVP award following the 1985 season. During his 13-year NFL career, Payton was named to the Pro Bowl nine times. He was also named a member of the NFL's prestigious 75th Anniversary Team.
As active as he was on the field, Payton was equally active in charity work off the field. He was honorary chairman for the 1983 Heart Association Jump Rope for Health, and for the Illinois Mental Health Association from 1978 through 1980. Payton was also involved with the Boy Scouts, March of Dimes, Brian Piccolo Research Fund, United Way and the Peace Corps.
The Sports Network CEO Mickey Charles stated, "There are more bowl games today than one can name and, over the years, probably as many awards as there are players. But, the Walter Payton, followed closely by the Buchanan and Robinson, have lent deserved respect and credibility to the legions of athletes and coaches of Division I-AA that have excelled on, and off, the playing field and we are very proud to have contributed to the recognition justifiably accorded them."
About The Sports Network
The Sports Network is the nation's foremost international real-time sports wire service furnishing a plethora of content on a 24/7 basis using state-of- the-art technology. TSN's website, sportsnetwork.com, contains voluminous proprietary sports news data that includes, but is not limited to, scores, trends, analysis, news, features, statistics, pre- and post-game reports, box scores, historical data, and very much more. Among its clients are AT&T, Reuters, Viacom Television Station Group, Tribune International, Knight-Ridder Digital, Lexis*Nexis, Westwood One, Dallas Morning News, New York Times, Boston Globe, New York Daily News, Houston Chronicle, Denver Post, L.A. Times, Detroit News, Clear Channel Network, Learfield Communications, Media News, Metro Source, Comtex and hundreds more. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/ is consistently ranked as one of the most prominent sports sites on the Internet - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sports&btnG=Google+Search - and TSN currently brands sports pages for sites numbering in excess of 500 while furnishing satellite-transmitted data and online transmission to a host of organizations domestically and internationally.
The Sports Network

CONTACT: Maureen McGillian-Galeone, The Sports Network, +1-215-441-8444,maureen@sportsnetwork.com

Web site: http://www.sportsnetwork.com/

[ Back To Contact Center Solutions Homepage's Homepage ]


Related Contact Center Solutions Articles
[ View all Contact Center Solutions Articles ]

Socialize with us

FREE Contact Center Solutions eNewsletter

Click here to receive your targeted Contact Center Solutions Community eNewsletter.[Subscribe Now]

Industry News

Featured Resources

Contact Center Solutions Glossary of Terms

Press Releases

About the Contact Center Solutions Community

    Welcome to the Contact Center Solutions Community The Contact Center Solutions Global Online Community, Sponsored by Interactive Intelligence, is designed to serve as the industry's premier resource for information and research on Contact Center Solutions technology and deployment strategies.