Fans get to help decide who will be the next C Spire Conerly Trophy winner honoring Mississippi's top college football player of the year

JACKSON, Miss., Nov. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- With an exciting college football season winding down in Mississippi, interest is growing in the 2018 C Spire Conerly Trophy as fans anxiously await who will win the coveted award, which annually honors the top college football player in the Magnolia state.

While all the teams will determine their ultimate fate on the gridiron, college football fans will help influence who gets the best player honors.  For only the sixth time in the award's 23-year history, fan voting will count for 10 percent of the Conerly Trophy and a panel of statewide sports media will decide the remaining 90 percent.

"We want fans to help select Mississippi's best college football player," said Bill Blackwell, executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and co-sponsor of the award along with C Spire. "Other sports have used fan voting for years. We think involving fans will help sustain interest in an award that's become an integral part of the state's college football scene."

The 10 Conerly Trophy finalists are Ole Miss wide receiver A. J. Brown, Mississippi State defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons,  Southern Miss wide receiver Quez Watkins, Mississippi Valley State receiver and running back Booker Chambers, Mississippi College running back Tiberias Lampkin, Alcorn State quarterback Noah Johnson, Millsaps College linebacker Chandler Coleman, Belhaven University linebacker Denarrius Noel, Jackson State place kicker and punter Christian Jacquemin and Delta State quarterback Patrick Shegog.

Fan voting begins today at 5 p.m. CT and concludes on Sunday, Nov. 25 at noon CT.  Fans can vote online for their favorite player up to three times a day at www.cspire.com/conerly. The winner will be announced at the conclusion of the voting tabulation.

Among past C Spire Conerly Trophy winners are such prominent former and active NFL standouts as two-time winners - Dak Prescott and Eli Manning - Evan Engram, Deuce McAllister, Jerious Norwood, Michael Boley, Patrick Willis, Anthony Dixon and last year's winner, A. J. Brown of Ole Miss. 

"Football fans across Mississippi are very passionate about their schools and the star players in their respective programs.  We are excited to once again give fans the opportunity to help influence who wins the C Spire Conerly Trophy," said Jim Richmond, vice president of Marketing for C Spire.

The C Spire Conerly Trophy presentation is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 27 at the Country Club of Jackson, 345 Saint Andrews Drive, in Jackson. A 5:30 p.m. reception will be followed by the 6:30 p.m. dinner program and trophy presentation.  Coaches and finalists from all the schools are expected to attend.  For ticket availability or more details, go to msfame.com or call 601.982.8264.  Former Ole Miss and New Orleans Saints great Deuce McAllister will be the special guest speaker.

Now in its 23^rd year, the C Spire Conerly Trophy is named after the late Charlie Conerly – the only football inductee in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame who was an All-American at a Mississippi university, an NFL rookie of the year and NFL All-Pro member and quarterbacked a team to a world championship.  C Spire has sponsored the outstanding player awards program for all major college sports in Mississippi since 1998.

About C Spire  
C Spire is a leading technology company committed to transforming Mississippi through the C Spire Tech Movement, which includes the massive deployment of broadband internet to homes and small businesses, a state-of-the-art digital experience for its customers and team members, technology innovation leadership and the creation and retention of a 21^st century technology workforce in its region.  The company provides world-class, customer-inspired wireless communications, 1 Gigabit consumer Internet access as well as a full suite of dedicated Internet, wireless, IP Voice, data and cloud services for businesses.  This news release and other announcements are available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C Spire, visit www.cspire.com or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at www.twitter.com/cspire.

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SOURCE C Spire