FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 30, 1999 — The Davey O’Brien Foundation announced today the three finalists for the 1999 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award. They are, in alphabetical order, Drew Brees, Jr., Purdue; Joe Hamilton, Sr., Georgia Tech; and Chad Pennington, Sr., Marshall. The three finalists were selected by a preferential vote of the O’Brien Advisory Committee, a nationwide panel of sportswriters and commentators.
| Joe Hamilton (AP Photo) |
The winner will be announced live Thursday, December 9, on the 1999 Home Depot College Football Awards Show, 4:00 p.m. CST, on ESPN; with a re-broadcast on espn2 at 7:30 p.m. CST. The show will be broadcast from the Field House at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. All three quarterbacks will be honored at the 23rd annual O’Brien Awards Dinner, Monday, February 21, 2000, here 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 Brees, Hamilton and Pennington, the other semifinalists on the ballot included Major Applewhite, So., Texas; Kevin Feterik, Sr., Brigham Young; Tee Martin, Sr., Tennessee; Tim Rattay, Sr., Louisiana Tech; Chris Redman, Sr., Louisville; Michael Vick, Fr., Virginia Tech; and Chris Weinke, Jr., Florida State.
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.
Past winners of the Davey O’Brien Award include Earl Campbell (1977), Billy Sims (1978), Mike Singletary (1979-80), Jim McMahon (1981), Todd Blackledge (1982), Steve Young (1983), Doug Flutie (1984), Chuck Long (1985), Vinny Testaverde (1986), Don McPherson (1987), Troy Aikman (1988), Andre Ware (1989), Ty Detmer (1990-91), Gino Torretta (1992), Charlie Ward (1993), Kerry Collins (1994), Danny Wuerffel (1995-96), Peyton Manning (1997), and Michael Bishop (1998).
Members of the O’Brien Advisory Committee are Andy Bagnato, Chicago Tribune; Tony Barnhart, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Wendell Barnhouse and Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Todd Blackledge, CBS-TV, Mark Blaudschun, Boston Globe; Dave Caldwell and Blackie Sherrod, Dallas Morning News; Lee Corso and Ron Franklin, 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; Ivan Maisel, Sports Illustrated; Steve Richardson, Dallas Morning News/Football Writers of America Association; Steve Wieberg, USA Today; Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN Magazine; and Jim Brock, former executive vice president of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, who serves as chairman.
