For Immediate Release
September 1, 2009
Recipients to be Honored during MEAC/SWAC Challenge Presented by Disney
The MEAC/SWAC Challenge announced today the two winners for this year’s Walter Payton Achievement Award. The award is given annually to a player from each of the schools participating in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney. This year’s game will pit MEAC defending champion South Carolina State University against 2008 SWAC title winner Grambling State University on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN2 HD and ESPN360.com, live from Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla. .
Grambling State wide receiver Van Phillips, a sophomore from Irondale, Ala., and South Carolina State defensive lineman Zachary Middleton, a junior from Orangeburg, S.C., will be honored at the MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff Banquet, set for 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Finalists are selected by a committee that includes academic advisers and coaches, and this year marks the first time that the winners were determined by fans’ votes.
Of Phillips, Grambling coach Rod Broadway said, “Van is a great student who has grown tremendously in the last year. We’re expecting great things from him because he’s a gifted athlete with size and speed.”
Of Middleton, South Carolina State coach Buddy Pough said, “A consummate professional and the most dependable and reliable football player I’ve been around during my career.”
Other finalists included South Carolina State’s Otis Key (Sr., DL) and Marshall McFadden (Sr., LB); and Grambling’s Gabriel Fleming (So., DB), and Stephen Tripp (Sr., LB).
About the Walter Payton Achievement Award
The Walter Payton Achievement Award was first presented in 2008. The honor is given annually to a player from each school participating in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney. Like Payton, who starred at Jackson State from 1971 to ’74 and earned his bachelor’s degree in communications, the recipients must be high achievers in the classroom and on the football field. Nominees are selected by a committee consisting of academic advisers and coaches and the winners are determined by online fan voting. The inaugural award recipients were Jackson State University linebacker Marcus Smith and Hampton University wide receiver Kevin Teel.
About the MEAC/SWAC Challenge
Each year, the game is played at a neutral site within the footprint of one of the conferences. The inaugural MEAC/SWAC Challenge in 2005 showcased the MEAC’s South Carolina State vs. Alabama State of the SWAC, with South Carolina State prevailing, 27-14. In 2006, the contest went into overtime with the MEAC’s Hampton University defeating the SWAC’s Grambling State, 27-26. The SWAC earned its first MEAC/SWAC Challenge trophy in 2007 as Southern defeated Florida A&M, 33-27. Last year, the event moved from Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., to Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, where the MEAC reclaimed the MEAC/SWAC Challenge crown, as Hampton defeated Jackson State 17-13. The MEAC leads the series 3-1. Teams for future games are determined on an annual basis.
ESPN Regional Television/Event Ownership
The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,000 telecasts of sporting events. Coverage includes football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and NHRA events accounting for more than 2,200 live and/or original hours of programming. In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network; syndication rights-holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (e.g. – SEC, BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, Sun Belt, WAC).
ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several sporting events, including collegiate football events: the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); MAACO BOWL Las Vegas; Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); St. Petersburg Bowl; the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.) ; and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards; collegiate basketball events: the 76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Charleston Classic (S.C.); Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); O’Reilly Auto Parts All-College Classic (Oklahoma City); SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; and the ESPNU BracketBusters; as well as the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.
