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Nov. 17, 2010 For Immediate Release Contact: George Schroeder 541-953-4080 |
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| Three Div. I players shared preseason family tragedy |
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| PHILLIPS
BROTHERS NOMINATED
FOR DISCOVER ORANGE BOWL COURAGE AWARD |
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DALLAS (FWAA) – Three brothers share the weekly nomination for the 2010 Discover Orange Bowl Courage Award, to be announced at the end of the season by the Football Writers Association of America. Andrew, Colter and Paul Phillips, of Darnestown, Md., lost their father, William D. "Bill" Phillips, in a plane crash in Alaska last August. Andrew is a fifth-year senior and starting guard at Stanford. Colter is a sophomore tight end at Virginia. Paul is a redshirting freshman at Indiana. They were preparing for the start of the college football season when tragedy struck. Their younger brother, Willy Phillips, 13, was one of four survivors. Five people were killed, including former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska; Bill Phillips, 56, a former college football player at Evansville, had worked on Stevens' staff from 1981-86. The plane crash occurred on a remote mountainside during a salmon fishing trip. All three brothers considered whether to play football this season, but decided to return to school and play. Andrew Phillips is a three-year starter at guard for the 9-1 Cardinal. Colter Phillips has moved into the Cavaliers' starting lineup; he has three touchdown catches. Paul Phillips is redshirting this season. "I feel like I'm 10 years older than I was when my dad died," Colter Phillips told the Washington Post. "But it's what you've got to do, and you've just got to keep moving forward and staying positive. Now, every day when I wake up I just try to live it like it's going to be the best day of my life because you never know when it's going to end, and I learned that really personally. "I'm going to carry that with me the rest of my life."
The Courage Award was created by ESPN The Magazine's senior writer Gene Wojciechowski, also an FWAA member. A select group of FWAA members vote on the recipient each year. The requirements for nomination include displaying courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship. Previous winners of the FWAA's Courage Award are the Connecticut Huskies (2009), Tulsa's Wilson Holloway (2008), Navy's Zerbin Singleton (2007), Clemson's Ray Ray McElrathbey (2006), the Tulane Green Wave (2005), Memphis' Haracio Colen (2004), San Jose State's Neil Parry (2003) and Toledo's William Bratton (2002). The Orange Bowl Committee is a not-for-profit, 343-member, primarily-volunteer organization. It is a self-sustaining, independent organization that supports and produces activities and events that enhance the image, economy and culture of South Florida. The Orange Bowl Festival features a year-round schedule of events culminating with the Discover Orange Bowl on January 3, 2011. Other OBC core events include the MetroPCS Orange Bowl Basketball Classic, Orange Bowl Youth Football Alliance presented by Sports Authority, Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships and Orange Bowl Sailing Regatta Series. For more information on the 2010-11 Orange Bowl Festival and its events, including promotional and volunteer opportunities through the Ambassador Program, visit www.orangebowl.org. The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,200 men and women who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include gameday operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com or 972-713-6198. 2010 Orange Bowl Courage Award Nominees |
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For
the fifth straight year, the Football Writers Association of
America and the Discover Orange Bowl will announce a
weekly nominee for the Discover Orange Bowl Courage Award
each Wednesday during the season. A blue-ribbon panel will determine
the award's recipient from those weekly nominees. The recipient
of the Courage Award will be announced in December and presented
with the trophy in conjunction with this year's Discover Orange
Bowl.