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SUN, SAND AND SPIRALS GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE HOSTS SOME OF THE NFL’S BIGGEST STARS AND LEGENDS IN EA SPORTS NFL QUARTERBACK CHALLENGE MAY 13 Marino, Elway, Brees, Leftwich and Roethlisberger to Participate in Competition to be Televised in July on CBS Sports GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – May 9, 2005 – Some of the National Football League’s top quarterbacks – past and present -- will converge on Greater Fort Lauderdale Friday, May 13 to compete in the 2005 EA SPORTS NFL QUARTERBACK CHALLENGE. The Bahia Mar Beach Resort & Yachting Center will be outfitted with FieldTurf and transformed into a football field for the competition which will be televised on CBS Sports July 16-17. One thousand local middle school students will serve as the audience for the event, which is not open to the public. In its 16th year, the EA SPORTS NFL Quarterback Challenge tests the NFL’s premier quarterbacks, which this year include: DREW BREES (San Diego Chargers); JAKE DELHOMME (Carolina Panthers); JOEY HARRINGTON (Detroit Lions); MATT HASSELBECK (Seattle Seahawks); BYRON LEFTWICH (Jacksonville Jaguars); CARSON PALMER (Cincinnati Bengals) and BEN ROETHLISBERGER (Pittsburgh Steelers). The quarterbacks will compete in four different skills competitions: accuracy, speed and mobility, long distance throw and “No Huddle.” Participating in the “No Huddle” timed event in which the quarterback must complete passes to receivers are TORRY HOLT (St. Louis Rams), JOE HORN (New Orleans Saints), CHAD JOHNSON (Cincinnati Bengals) and KEENAN McCARDELL (San Diego Chargers). Some of the NFL’s quarterback greats, including JOHN ELWAY, BOOMER ESIASON, BERNIE KOSAR and DAN MARINO also will compete in a separate competition during the event. “This year, the focus for Madden NFL 06 is on passing, marking the first time in 10 years that we have changed this important part of the game,” said Jordan Edelstein, director of marketing, Electronic Arts. “Our new innovative QB vision and precision feature brings authentic NFL passing to all players, making the Quarterback Challenge the perfect fit.” “We are thrilled to host some of the current and former stars of the National Football League in Greater Fort Lauderdale for the 2005 Quarterback Challenge,” said Nicki E. Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. “It’s the perfect event for Greater Fort Lauderdale to host as we ‘gear up’ for Super Bowl XLI in 2007.” In addition to event title sponsor EA SPORTS, other sponsors include: Foot Locker/Champs Sports, Pepsi, Prilosec, TGI Friday’s, Upper Deck, Visa and X-Box. The event will air nationally on CBS Sports as two, one-hour specials on Saturday, July 16 from 5-6 p.m. EDT/2-3 p.m. PDT and Sunday, July 17, from 2-3 p.m. EDT/11-12 p.m. PDT. RICH EISEN of NFL Network will team with CBS Sports’ ESIASON and BONNIE BERNSTEIN as the event broadcasters. The event is produced by the NFL, PLAYERS INC and NFL QB Greats. For more information on Greater Fort Lauderdale, contact the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, 100 East Broward Boulevard, Suite 200, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301; call 800-22-SUNNY (U.S. and Canada) or log onto www.sunny.org.ABOUT PLAYERS INC Formed in 1994, PLAYERS INC is the for-profit licensing and marketing subsidiary of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). Representing more than 1,800 active and 3,000 retired NFL players, PLAYERS INC "takes the helmets off" the players and markets them as personalities as well as professional athletes. PLAYERS INC activities include retail licensing, corporate sponsorships, special events, radio and television projects, publishing and other promotional programs. PLAYERS INC schedules more than 3,500 NFL player appearances each year. For more information, please visit www.nflplayers.com.ABOUT NFL QB GREATS Launched in 2003, NFL QB Greats (QBG) is a retired athlete organization, officially licensed by the National Football League, which assigns rights when its members are used in groups of three (3) or more. QBG’s membership includes some of the top signal callers from the past 20 years; Jim Kelly, Warren Moon, Steve Young, Boomer Esiason, Randall Cunningham, Phil Simms and Bernie Kosar are all shareholders in the organization. QBG is the successor company to the original NFL Quarterback Club, formed in 1991. CONTACTS NFL: Brian McCarthy, 212-450-2069 Players Inc: Clay Walker, 202 496-2871 EA SPORTS: Wendy Spander, 650-628-7929 CBS Sports: Jerry Caraccioli, 212-975-7466 Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau: Roland Alonzi, 212-754-6500 NFL QB Greats: Brian Nelson, 201-635-8003
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