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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Manning Selected As Finalist For Davey O'Brien Award
12/1/2003 | Football
Dec. 1, 2003
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Davey O'Brien Foundation announced today the three finalists for the 2003 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award. They are, in alphabetical order, Eli Manning, Sr., Ole Miss; Philip Rivers, Sr., North Carolina State; and Jason White, Sr., University of Oklahoma. The three finalists were selected by a preferential vote of the O'Brien Selection Committee, a nationwide panel of sportswriters, commentators and past O'Brien winners.
The 27th O'Brien Award winner will be announced first, Thursday, Dec. 11, live on the 2003 Home Depot College Football Awards Show, 7:00 PM EST, on ESPN. The show will be broadcast from the Atlantic Dance Hall on the BoardWalk at Disney in Orlando, Fla. The winner will be honored at the 27th Annual O'Brien Awards Dinner, Monday, Feb.16, 2004, at the Fort Worth Club. Air transportation for the awards dinner is provided by American Airlines, the official airline of the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award.
In addition to Manning, Rivers, and White, the other semifinalists on the ballot included Josh Harris, Sr., Bowling Green; Matt Leinart, Soph., USC; John Navarre, Sr., Michigan; Ben Roethlisberger, Jr., Miami (Ohio); Rod Rutherford, Sr., Pittsburg; Jeff Smoker, Sr., Michigan State; and B.J. Symons, Sr., Texas Tech.
Members of the O'Brien Advisory Committee are Tony Barnhart, Atlanta Journal-Constitution/ESPN; Wendell Barnhouse and Jimmy Burch, Star-Telegram; Todd Blackledge, CBS-TV and 1982 O'Brien winner, Mark Blaudschun, Boston Globe; Don Borst, Lindy's Football Annuals; Terry Bowden, ABC Sports; Richard Cirminiello, College Football News; Lee Corso, Ron Franklin and Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN; Tom Dienhart, The Sporting News; Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times; Bob Griese and Keith Jackson, ABC-TV; Dan Jenkins, author and sportswriter; Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star; Chuck Long, University of Oklahoma and 1985 O'Brien winner; Verne Lundquist, CBS-TV; Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com; Stewart Mandel; si.com; Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts and 1997 O'Brien winner; Scott Murray, Chairman of the O'Brien Selection Committee; Steve Richardson, Dallas Morning News/Football Writers of America Association; Gino Torretta, Prudential Securities and 1992 O'Brien winner; Dick Weiss, New York Daily News; Steve Wieberg, USA Today; and Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN The Magazine.
The Davey O'Brien Award was established in 1977 to recognize the outstanding college football player in the Southwest. In 1981, the award went national in scope to recognize the top college quarterback, the position of its namesake, Davey O'Brien. O'Brien led the 1938 TCU Horned Frogs to the national championship and was the first player to win the Heisman, Walter Camp and Maxwell Awards in one season.
