College Football Fans Select Notre Dame Quarterback Brady Quinn as the Week Four Cingular All-America Player of the Week

Quinn Tops Fan Balloting for the Second Time in 2006

ATLANTA, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn orchestrated a miraculous comeback for the Fighting Irish against Michigan State last weekend, and for the fourth time in his career fans have rewarded him for his heroics. The ballots are in and Quinn has been selected as the week four Cingular All-America Player of the Week, the only major college football award chosen exclusively by college football fans.

Quinn earned the award after leading the 12th-ranked Fighting Irish to a thrilling 40-37 comeback win over the Spartans last Saturday. Quinn passed for 319 yards and five touchdowns to help Notre Dame overcome a 16 point fourth quarter deficit in East Lansing, Mich.

Quinn received 50% of the votes to beat out Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson (26%), South Carolina wide receiver Sidney Rice (17%) and New Hampshire wide receiver David Ball (7%). Each player was nominated for this week's award by a panel of ESPN college football analysts based on their outstanding performances last weekend.

Quinn was named the Cingular All-America Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks after also earning the honor following his performance against Penn State on September 9. The quarterback was a two-time winner of the award last fall and was a finalist for the 2005 Cingular All America Player of the Year.

Quinn joins Rutgers running back Ray Rice and Michigan wide receiver Mario Manningham on this year's winner's list.

Fans can register to vote for the Cingular All-America Player of the Week throughout the season by text messaging "VOTE" to "87654" on their wireless phone, with the nominees being revealed each Sunday on the 9 a.m. ESPN SportsCenter and on the Web at http://www.espnallamerica.com/. Fans have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the following Wednesday to submit their votes. The winner will then be announced during ESPN's Thursday night college football game. Fans can vote as many times as they like, with each vote counting as one entry into a sweepstakes to win a trip to the 2007 BCS National Championship game.

Cingular customers can visit Cingular's NCAA® Football Portal on their wireless handset to view video highlights of each week's candidates, retrieve photos, check scoreboards, track their favorite teams, and download school ringtones.

In December, four finalists for the Cingular All-America Player of the Year award will be announced during a one-hour special on ABC Sports. Fans will then get a chance to say who the best player in the nation is by voting for the Cingular All-America Player of the Year up until the Bowl Championship Series. The selection process will culminate during the BCS National Championship game on FOX when the Cingular All-America Player of the Year will be presented.

Last year, Texas quarterback Vince Young was crowned as the Cingular All- America Player of the Year, beating out Southern California teammates Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart and Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. Young was the second Longhorn to claim the award, after running back Cedric Benson won the inaugural honor in 2004.

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SOURCE: Cingular Wireless

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