UCLA Running Back Maurice Drew Wins His First Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week Award

UCLA Running Back Maurice Drew Wins His First Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week Award

Drew garners 29% of fan vote to edge out Northwestern's Tyrell Sutton and USC's LenDale White

ATLANTA, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- UCLA's do-it-all offensive threat Maurice Drew is still receiving accolades for his monster performance in the Bruins' 47-40 victory over California last weekend. Today he was named the Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week after impressing college football fans across the nation with his 299 total yards and five touchdowns. This was Drew's second nomination in his career and first win since the inception of the award, which is the only major college football honor determined exclusively by fan voting.

Drew is the second running back to claim the honor this year. Other winners this season include Georgia's D.J. Shockley, Texas' Vince Young, Texas A&M's Reggie McNeal, Minnesota's Laurence Maroney, and Notre Dame's Brady Quinn.

In the closest vote of the season, Drew garnered 29% of the fan vote, edging out Northwestern running back Tyrell Sutton by 1% and USC running back LenDale White by 2%. He was one of four candidates for the Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week, who were selected by a panel of ABC Sports and ESPN college football analysts. The other finalists were: Louisville defensive lineman Elvis Dumervil (16%) who recorded three sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception in the Cardinals' win against North Carolina; Sutton (28%), who rushed for 244 yards and three touchdowns in the Wildcats' win against Wisconsin; and White (27%), who rushed for 179 yards and four touchdowns in the Trojans' win over Arizona.

Throughout the season, the nominees are announced Sunday morning at 9 a.m. EDT on ESPN. Then, fans have until the following Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. EDT to submit their votes via wireless text messaging. *The winner is announced every Thursday night during the first half of the ESPN Thursday Night College Football game. Fans can learn more about the award and each week's nominees online at www.abcsportsallamerica.com or at www.cingularallamerica.com.

Here's how fans can register to vote for the Cingular/ABC Sports All- America Player of the Week throughout the 2005 season:

- Text "VOTE" to "87654" on your wireless phone - Follow the prompt to vote for your All-America selection - Cingular/ABC Sports Player of the Week candidates will be automatically sent out via text messaging each week

Each time fans vote, they are entered into a sweepstakes to win a trip to the Bowl Championship Series game of their choice. Fans can vote as often as they like.

In December, fans will get a chance to say who the best player in the nation is by voting for the Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Year. The selection process will culminate in December in a one-hour special on ABC Sports when the Cingular/ABC Sports Player of the Year and the Football Writers Association of America All-America team will be announced. Last year, University of Texas running back and Chicago Bears first round draft pick Cedric Benson was selected by fans as the Player of the Year.

*Other wireless carriers must opt-in for their subscribers to participate

About Cingular Wireless

Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 51.6 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation -- the ALLOVER(SM) network -- and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(R), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/. Get Cingular Wireless press releases e-mailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://cingular.mediaroom.com/.

Source: Cingular Wireless

CONTACT: Sarah Didier of Career Sports & Entertainment, +1-770-955-1300, or +1-770-617-8737, or sdidier@careersportsentertainment.com, for Cingular Wireless; or Clay Owen of Cingular Wireless, +1-404-236-6153, or clay.owen@cingular.com

Web site: http://www.cingular.com/ http://www.abcsportsallamerica.com/ http://www.cingularallamerica.com/ http://cingular.mediaroom.com/

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