Highest vote total in the award's history selects Quinn as national player
of the year
ATLANTA, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- A record setting number of college
football fans have cast their ballots, and for the third straight year
their voice differs from the media experts.
Notre Dame quarterback Bray Quinn was selected as the Cingular
All-America Player of the Year, the only major college football award
determined exclusively by the fans, after leading the Fighting Irish to 10
wins and a Bowl Championship Series berth in the Sugar Bowl.
Quinn received 43% of the votes to win over Ohio State quarterback Troy
Smith (27%), the Heisman Trophy winner, Rutgers running back Ray Rice (18%)
and Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan (12%). Voting for the Cingular All-
America Player of the Year was the highest total in the three year history
of the award.
For the third consecutive season, college football fans disagreed with
the media that vote for the Heisman Trophy. Last year, Texas quarterback
Vince Young was voted the Cingular All-America Player of the Year over
Heisman Trophy winning running back Reggie Bush of Southern California, and
in 2004 Texas running back Cedric Benson won over USC quarterback Matt
Leinart.
A two-time winner of the Cingular All-America Player of the Week during
the regular season, Quinn ranked third in the nation in touchdown passes
(37). The senior completed 289 of 467 pass attempts for 3,426 yards,
averaging 263.5 yards per game and compiling a 146.7 pass efficiency
rating.
Each of the Cingular All-America Player of the Year nominees was
selected by a panel of ESPN college football analysts. Fans had from
December 7 through January 5 to vote by text message. The Cingular
All-America Player of the Year is the final award in the Cingular
All-America Player of the Week program.
The 2006 Cingular All-America Player of the Week program spanned 12
weeks during college football's regular season. Quinn and Texas quarterback
Colt McCoy were the lone multiple winners.
2006 Cingular All-America Player of the Week Winners
September 2 - Ray Rice, RB, Rutgers
September 9 - Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame
September 16 - Mario Manningham, WR, Michigan
September 23 - Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame
September 30 - Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech
October 7 - Erik Ainge, QB, Tennessee
October 14 - Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
October 21 - John Beck, QB, Brigham Young
October 28 - Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
November 4 - Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
November 11 - Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas State
November 18 - Troy Smith, QB, Ohio State
Cingular All-America Player of the Year Winners
2004 - Cedric Benson, RB, Texas
2005 - Vince Young, QB, Texas
2006 - Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame
ABOUT CINGULAR WIRELESS
Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States,
serving 58.7 million customers. Cingular is solely owned by AT&T Inc.
(NYSE: T), a premier communications holding company in the United States
and worldwide. Cingular has the largest digital voice and data network in
the nation - the ALLOVER(TM) network - and the largest mobile-to-mobile
community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is a leader in third
generation wireless technology, featuring the first widely available HSDPA
(High Speed Downlink Packet Access) service in the world. Cingular is the
only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(R), the wireless plan that
lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company
are available at http://www.cingular.com.
SOURCE Cingular Wireless
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Related links:
http://www.cingular.com
CONTACT:
Chris Capo of Career Sports & Entertainment,
+1-404-314-1635, or ccapo@careersportsentertainment.com; or Clay
Owen of Cingular Wireless, +1- 404-236-6153, or
clay.owen@cingular.com
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