2010 Walter Payton Award Watch List Announced
PHILADELPHIA, July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The race for the 2010 Walter Payton Award, sponsored by Fathead.com, kicked off Monday with The Sports Network's announcement that seven finalists from last season are part of a stellar 20-player Watch List for the Football Championship Subdivision's top individual honor.
The Payton Award is in its 24th season and will be presented to the FCS national player of the year on Thursday, Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas - the night before the national championship game.
The 2010 Watch List includes three players from the defending FCS champion Villanova Wildcats: senior wide receiver/kickoff returner Matt Szczur; senior quarterback (QB) Chris Whitney; and senior offensive tackle Ben Ijalana. Szczur was a write-in candidate on the 2009 ballot and finished 21st in the voting.
Stephen F. Austin senior QB Jeremy Moses (7th) was the highest vote-getter among the returning players. The other returning finalists are Northern Arizona senior QB Michael Herrick (9th); Weber State senior QB Cameron Higgins (10th); Montana senior running back Chase Reynolds (13th); Delaware senior QB Pat Devlin (17th); and Elon senior QB Scott Riddle (23rd) as a write-in candidate.
The Watch List includes 11 quarterbacks. The other five are Prairie View A&M senior K.J. Black; Old Dominion sophomore Thomas DeMarco; South Carolina State senior Malcolm Long; Montana senior Andrew Selle; and Dayton senior Steve Valentino.
Other running backs are Samford senior Chris Evans, Eastern Washington junior Taiwan Jones, South Dakota State senior Kyle Minett, Appalachian State senior Devon Moore and William & Mary junior Jonathan Grimes. Southern Utah senior wide receiver Tysson Poots joins the Watch List as well.
Among the returning players to the Watch List, Moses is coming off a junior season in which he led the FCS in completions per game (29.6), touchdown passes (40) and total passing yards (4,124). Herrick threw for 3,356 yards, including 574 against Eastern Washington. Reynolds helped Montana reach the FCS championship game in each of the past two seasons. Devlin threw for 2,664 yards and 16 touchdowns last season.
Szczur, was the MVP of the Wildcats' title win over Montana and finished the season with 2,239 all- purpose yards and 15 touchdowns. Riddle enters his senior season with multiple Southern Conference career records.
Updates to the Payton Award Watch List will be announced on Oct. 4 and 25. Ballots will be sent to a panel of approximately 200 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries after the regular season on Nov. 22. Three finalists will be announced on Dec. 1.
Full bios of the Payton nominees are available on www.sportsnetwork.com.
About The Sports Network
The Sports Network, (www.sportsnetwork.com) North America's foremost international real-time sports wire service, furnishes a wide range of content on a 24/7 basis utilizing state-of-the-art technology that sets the tone and standard for the entire industry. From statistics to news, weather and injury reports to instant scores, branded product and gamecasts to photography and complete fantasy coverage data, radio or TV, print or Internet, mobile to signage, TSN leads the way.
About Fathead
Fathead is the leading brand in sports and entertainment graphic products. Fathead products give fans the opportunity to bring their favorite passion or inspiration to life. Fathead products include Fathead Customs, Fathead Jr., Fathead Tradeables, Fathead Skins, and Fathead's flagship "Real Big:" the officially licensed life-size, hi-def wall graphics of professional athletes, animated heroes, entertainment characters, team helmets and logos. Fathead maintains license agreements with leading consumer brands across many industries and professional sports leagues. For more information, visit www.fathead.com.
SOURCE The Sports Network
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