AT&T Kicks Off All-America Player of the Week Award

SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T has announced that, for the fourth consecutive year, college football fans have the chance to vote for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week, a national honor determined solely by fans.

"With fans who are deeply passionate and extremely knowledgeable, we could not have built a better, more qualified AT&T All-America Player of the Week judging panel," said Dave Garver, executive director of Business Development and Wireless Sponsorships for AT&T's wireless unit. "We are proud to give college football fans a voice and bring them closer to the sport through the voting as well as handset content that leverages AT&T's wireless leadership to provide easy, on-the-go access to news, information and downloadable ringtones and wallpaper."

Each week, ESPN will choose four finalists based on their outstanding performance from that week. The four candidates are revealed each Sunday at 9 a.m. EST on ESPN "SportsCenter," via text message alerts and on the Web at http://www.espnallamerica.com/. Fans can register to vote for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week throughout the season by text messaging "VOTE" to "87654"on their wireless phones. They have until 11:59 p.m. EST each Wednesday to participate in the voting. The winner is announced at halftime of the Thursday ESPN College Football Primetime Presented by Applebee's.

There is no limit on fan voting, and each vote counts as one entry into a sweepstakes to win a trip to the 2008 BCS National Championship game in New Orleans. AT&T customers can visit AT&T's wireless NCAA(R) Football Portal on their handsets to view video highlights of each week's candidates, retrieve photos, check scores, track their favorite teams and download school ringtones.

In December, four finalists for the AT&T All-America Player of the Year Award will be announced during a one-hour special on ABC in conjunction with the announcement of the Football Writers Association of America All-America team. Fans will then get a chance to say who the best player in the nation is by voting for the AT&T All-America Player of the Year up until the Bowl Championship Series. Voting ends on Jan. 4, and the winner will be announced during the BCS National Championship game on FOX on Jan. 8.

Last year, University of Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn was crowned as the AT&T All-America Player of the Year. He beat out Ohio State quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, Rutgers running back Ray Rice and Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan. Voting for the 2006 AT&T All-America Player of the Year was the highest total in the three-year history of the award.

College Ringtones

This year, fans can also choose from more than 150 college and university fight song ringtones and download more than 100 college and university color logos on their wireless AT&T devices. For the first time, AT&T is also offering 3-D wallpapers and animated screensavers for more than 100 colleges and universities.

Note: This AT&T release and other news announcements are available as part of an RSS feed at http://www.att.com/rss.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation's leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/.

(C) 2007 AT&T Knowledge Ventures. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Knowledge Ventures. For more information, please review this announcement in the AT&T newsroom at http://www.att.com/newsroom.