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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Walter Camp Foundation Announces 2002 Player of the Year Candidates
8/30/2002 | Football
Aug. 30, 2002
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Ole Miss junior quarterback Eli Manning is among a list of candidates to capture its 2002 prestigious Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year award, it was announced Friday by The Foundation.
The fourth-oldest individual college football award in the nation, the Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient will be announced live on ESPN in early December. The winner will receive his trophy during the Foundation's annual national awards banquet on February 8, 2003 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.
Manning, who set or tied 17 Ole Miss records last season during his first year as a starter, was listed on the Walter Camp Football Foundation's 2001 midseason list of the top 10 leading candidates for its Player of the Year. Last year's recipient was Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch.
Walter Camp, "The Father of American football," first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp -- a former Yale University athlete and football coach -- is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side.
The Walter Camp Football Foundation, a New Haven-based all-volunteer group, was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.
2002 Walter Camp Player of the Year Candidates
Cedric Benson, RB, Sophomore, Texas
Casey Clausen, QB, Junior, Tennessee
Antonio Davis, RB, Sophomore, Wisconsin
Dahrran Diedrick, RB, Senior, Nebraska
Ken Dorsey, QB, Senior, Miami
Mike Doss, DB, Senior, Ohio State
Clarence Farmer, RB, Junior, Arizona
Anthony Floyd, DB, Senior, Louisville
Greg Gathers, DE, Senior, Georgia Tech
Jason Gesser, QB, Senior, Washington State
Rex Grossman, QB, Junior, Florida
E.J. Henderson, LB, Senior, Maryland
Byron Leftwich, QB, Senior, Marshall
Eli Manning, QB, Junior, Ole Miss
Dave Ragone, QB, Senior, Louisville
Andrew Pinnock, RB, Senior South Carolina
Troy Polamalu, DB, Senior, USC
Philip Rivers, QB, Junior, North Carolina State
Chris Rix, QB, Sophomore, Florida State
Charles Rogers, WR, Junior, Michigan State
Chris Simms, QB, Senior, Texas
Onterrio Smith, RB, Junior, Oregon
Lee Suggs, RB, Senior, Virginia Tech
Kelley Washington, WR, Sophomore, Tennessee
Roy Williams, WR, Junior, Texas
