FanPost

Response from The Davey O'brien Award Committee

Hello fsugrizz,

Thank you for your interest in the Davey O’Brien Award, and our Semifinalists announcement. It is the passion of fans like you that make college football great. I understand you are upset by Christian Ponder’s omission from our Semifinalist list, so I would like to clarify our selection process for you.

Our Semifinalists are selected by the Davey O’Brien National Selection Committee, an elite group of journalists, broadcasters, commentators and former winners, with the Fan Vote accounting for 5 % of the total vote. The Selection Committee is asked to evaluate each candidate on the criteria of his quarterback skills and athletic ability, academics, his reputation as a team player, character, leadership and sportsmanship. All 120 starting quarterbacks in the FBS division are eligible for Semifinalists selection, and for a complete listing of the Selection Committee, you can visit www.DaveyOBrien.org.

I hope this clarifies any questions or concerns you have, and that you will continue to support the O’Brien Quarterback Award.

Best regards,

Carter

To which I replied:

Actually this further compounds my issues with his omission.

If the selection committee is asked to evaluate each canidate based on his quarterback skills, athletic ability, academics, reputation etc, then why is qb who would be 2nd in the list of the "15 top qb's" in the nation in terms of quarterback efficiency which is a measure of a quarterback's skills and athletic ability against BCS caliber opponents. He would be 4th in the list of semi-finalists in yards per attempt which is a measure of how many yards a qb produces which is again a measure of his skills. Ponder is 3rd in the nation in accuracy to Colt McCoy and Case Keenum. Ponder has thrown fewer interceptions then every single quarterback on the semi-final list. He has the highest TD/INT ratio against BCS teams in the list at 10/1. In listing the players on the semi-final only one gains more total yards then Ponder.

Now if academics are indeed supposed to be a part of this award then how is a student who has already earn a bachelor's degree and is currently working on a masters not included? Clearly Ponder is the definition of a student athlete, with the student coming first. He is the offensive captain for our team and demonstrates leadership in this manner.

If a set of "elite journalists, broadcasters, commentators and former winners" can not see that Ponder is at least deserving to be one of the 15 best qb's in the nation then I for one consider your award to be fraudulent and useless. Even the one that Chris Weinke was awarded in 2000 and the one Charlie Ward was awarded in 1993.

I could maybe understand if the reason Ponder was omitted was because of Florida State's poor Win-Loss record yet you've included Jake Locker and his team has a worse record then FSU.

Unless you can clearly demonstrate that ALL 15 quarterbacks listed are more deserving then a student who has already earned a degree and chosen to go back for another, an athlete that demonstrates leadership as the captain of his team, and a quarterback who has a higher quarterback rating then 14 of the others on the list against BCS opponents, I will personally consider your award to be a fraudulent waste of time.

It is very possible that Ponder would not win the award because he may or may not be the best quarterback in the nation and I am very understanding of this. However it is inexcusable of a set of "elite" committee members to think that there could possibly be 15 better qb's who accurately fit the requirements for the award.

Sincerely fsugrizz.

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