Ole Miss wide receiver A.J. Brown won the fan voting segment of the 2017 C Spire Conerly Trophy, which honors the top college football player in Mississippi each year.
According to a C Spire press release, Brown, a sophomore from Starkville, received 3,479 votes from fans, which counts for 10 percent of the award. Mississippi State junior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald finished second with 3,207 votes, and Alcorn State running back De’Lance Turner was third with 1,822 votes. A panel of statewide sports media representatives decide the remaining 90 percent of the award.
Over 10,300 votes were cast for the 10 finalists from Magnolia State public colleges and universities via social media and text messaging during the week-long fan voting period, which was sponsored by C Spire and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.
This year’s overall winner will be announced at a banquet Tuesday night at the Hilton Jackson.
Brown, a semifinalist for the 2017 Biletnikoff Award, is the single-season Ole Miss record holder in receiving yards with 1,252. He also tied the single-season record for most receiving touchdowns with 11 and became only the second Rebel in school history to record six 100-yard receiving games this season.
The other seven finalists who received fan votes were University of Southern Mississippi running back Ito Smith; Mississippi Valley State defensive back Mark Pegues; Mississippi College defensive back Chris Manning; Millsaps College linebacker Jacob Kendall; Belhaven University quarterback Hunter McEachern; Jackson State linebacker Shawn Bishop; and Delta State running back Chris Robinson.
Past C Spire Conerly Trophy winners have included such prominent NFL standouts as two-time winners Dak Prescott and Eli Manning, Deuce McAllister, Jerious Norwood, Michael Boley, Patrick Willis, Anthony Dixon and Evan Engram.
The award 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.
Special to HottyToddy.com.
