FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      CONTACT:
NFL-185                 12/23/03                                                      Brendan Moynihan, NFL, 212-450-2246
                                                                                                Moynihanb@nfl.com

Howard Clabo, FedEx, 901-434-7786
            Howard.Clabo@fedex.com

VIKINGS QB DAUNTE CULPEPPER, PANTHERS QB JAKE DELHOMME,

PACKERS QB BRETT FAVRE & TITANS QB STEVE MC NAIR;

RAVENS RB JAMAL LEWIS, VIKINGS RB ONTERRIO SMITH

& JAGUARS RB FRED TAYLOR CANDIDATES FOR

FEDEX AIR & GROUND NFL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK HONORS

Fans To Vote For Winners On NFL.com

Quarterbacks DAUNTE CULPEPPER of the Minnesota Vikings, JAKE DELHOMME of the Carolina Panthers, BRETT FAVRE of the Green Bay Packers, and STEVE MC NAIR of the Tennessee Titans are the finalists for FedEx Express NFL Player of the Week honors for games played on December 20-22, while running backs JAMAL LEWIS of the Baltimore Ravens, ONTERRIO SMITH of the Minnesota Vikings and FRED TAYLOR of the Jacksonville Jaguars are the finalists for FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week honors, the NFL announced today.

Fans can vote for one player in each category on NFL.com from Tuesday morning through noon on Wednesday to determine the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week.  The FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week will be announced Wednesday afternoon on NFL.com and Friday in USA Today.

A closer look at the FedEx Express NFL Player of the Week finalists:

  • Minnesota’s Daunte Culpepper completed 20 of 29 attempts for 260 yards and three touchdowns for a 117.0 passer rating in the Vikings’ 45-20 win over Kansas City.
     
  • Carolina’s Jake Delhomme completed 29 of 35 attempts for 260 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 104.8 in the Panthers’ 20-14 win over Detroit.
     
  • Green Bay’s Brett Favre completed 22 of 30 attempts for 399 yards and four touchdowns for a career-high 154.9 passer rating in the Packers’ 41-7 win over Oakland.      
     
  • Tennessee’s Steve McNair completed 17 of 36 attempts for 268 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score with 17 seconds remaining, in the Titans’ 27-24 win over Houston.    

A closer look at the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week finalists:

  • Baltimore’s Jamal Lewis rushed for 205 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries in the Ravens’ 35-0 win over Cleveland.  Lewis, who also caught three passes for 21 yards, leads the NFL with 1,952 rushing yards.  He needs 48 yards to become the fifth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards and 154 yards to break Eric Dickerson’s NFL record of 2,105 yards rushing in one season.   
     
  • Minnesota’s Onterrio Smith rushed for 146 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries and caught four passes for 37 yards in the Vikings’ 45-20 win over Kansas City.  Smith has rushed for 294 yards in the past two games.
     
  • Jacksonville’s Fred Taylor rushed for 194 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries in the Jaguars’ 20-19 win over New Orleans.  Taylor ranks third in the AFC with 1,451 yards rushing. 

FedEx, the premier global provider of transportation, e-commerce and supply-chain management services, is the Official Delivery Service Sponsor of the NFL, Super Bowl and Pro Bowl.  Through the weekly FedEx Air and Ground Awards, FedEx recognizes those NFL players who represent the same speed, precision and teamwork that their customers have come to expect from the full range of FedEx air, ground, freight and international shipping services.