FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         CONTACT:
NFL-45                      9/9/03                                                         BRENDAN MOYNIHAN, NFL, 212-450-2246
                                                                                                   Moynihanb@nfl.com

                                                                                                   HOWARD CLABO, FED EX, 901-434-7786
                                                                                                   Howard.Clabo@fedex.com

CARDINALS QB JEFF BLAKE,

LIONS QB JOEY HARRINGTON & STEELERS QB TOMMY MADDOX; SEAHAWKS RB SHAUN ALEXANDER, GIANTS RB TIKI BARBER & BRONCOS RB CLINTON PORTIS CANDIDATES FOR

FEDEX NFL AIR & GROUND PLAYERS OF THE WEEK HONORS

Fans To Vote For Winners On NFL.com

Quarterbacks JEFF BLAKE of the Arizona Cardinals, JOEY HARRINGTON of the Detroit Lions and TOMMY MADDOX of the Pittsburgh Steelers are the finalists for FEDEX EXPRESS NFL PLAYER OF THE WEEK honors for games played on NFL Kickoff Weekend (September 4, 7-8), while running backs SHAUN ALEXANDER of the Seattle Seahawks, TIKI BARBER of the New York Giants and CLINTON PORTIS of the Denver Broncos 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 Thursday to determine the FEDEX NFL AIR & GROUND PLAYERS OF THE WEEK.  The FEDEX NFL AIR & GROUND PLAYERS OF THE WEEK will be announced Thursday on NFL.com and Friday in USA Today.

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

  • Arizona’s Jeff Blake passed for 363 yards and three touchdowns in the Cardinals’ 42-24 loss to Detroit.  Blake completed 28 of 46 attempts and recorded a 98.4 passer rating.
     
  • Detroit’s Joey Harrington completed 17 of 30 pass attempts for 195 yards and four touchdowns for a passer rating of 116.0 in the Lions’ 42-24 win over Arizona. 
     
  • Pittsburgh’s Tommy Maddox completed 21 of 29 pass attempts for 260 yards and three touchdowns for a passer rating of 134.3 in the Steelers’ 34-15 win over Baltimore. 

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

  • Seattle’s Shaun Alexander rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries in the Seahawks’ 27-10 win over New Orleans.  He also had two receptions for 16 yards and a touchdown.
     
  • New York Giants’ Tiki Barber rushed for 146 yards on 24 carries in the Giants’ 23-13 win over St. Louis.  Barber averaged 6.0 yards per carry, caught two passes for 19 yards, and leads the league in rushing.

·      Denver’s Clinton Portis rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries in the Broncos’ 30-10 win over Cincinnati.  Portis also caught five passes for 39 yards.

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