University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy has been named the 2009 winner of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. The award is presented annually to the nation's top senior college quarterback by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc. and Transamerica (www.transamerica.com), a leading provider of innovative business and personal financial services.

McCoy is the NCAA's all-time winningest quarterback with 44 victories. He ranks sixth on the NCAA all-time list with 14,651 yards of total offense. He has 13,060 career passing yards (6^th in NCAA history), 112 career passing touchdowns (7^th), a 156.7 passer rating, and a 70.6 career completion percentage - tops in NCAA history.

In winning the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, McCoy joins an outstanding group of previous winners, including Matt Ryan (Boston College, 2007), who is now with the Atlanta Falcons; Brady Quinn (Notre Dame, 2006), now with the Cleveland Browns; the Arizona Cardinals' Matt Leinart (USC, 2005), Eli Manning (Ole Miss, 2003) of the New York Giants; the Cincinnati Bengals' Carson Palmer (USC, 2002); and the Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning (Tennessee, 1997).

The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award bears the name of the man many refer to as the finest quarterback to ever play the game of football. Johnny Unitas played for the Baltimore Colts from 1956-1972. When he retired, Unitas left behind him records for: most pass attempts (5,186); most completions (2,830); most total yards (40,239); most touchdowns (290); most 300-yard games (26); and most consecutive games throwing touchdown passes (47).

Colt McCoy will receive the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award in Baltimore next Friday, December 11. Presenters at the awards ceremony will include NFL Hall of Famers Bart Starr and Raymond Berry.

Comcast Digital TV customers in select markets will have exclusive access to the Golden Arm Award Ceremony beginning later this month when Comcast will make a special video production of the ceremony available at no additional cost through its On Demand service.

Sponsors of the Golden Arm Award include Baltimore's Tremonts, Black & Decker, Century Engineering, Comcast Cable, Dunbar Armored, First Mariner Bank, Freedom Services, MyAdBox, R2i.ntegrated, Sports Legends Museum, Tray, Union Memorial Sports Medicine, Weiss PR Associates, Inc., and Wilson.

For more information, visit www.goldenarmfoundation.com.

Oklahoma State's Zac Robinson is one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, which is presented to the nation's top senior quarterback, it was announced today.

 

Robinson joins Texas' Colt McCoy, Florida's Tim Tebow, Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour and Duke's Thaddeus Lewis as signal-callers who made the cut from the original list of 22 candidates down to the five finalists.

 

The 2009 winner will be presented with the Golden Arm Award on Friday, December 11 at the Tremont Grand Meeting & Banquet Facility in Downtown Baltimore. Joining the evening's festivities will be a number of former Baltimore Colts teammates of Johnny Unitas, along with NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr.

 

"This is a great honor to be included on the list of finalists for the Johnny Unitas Award," Robinson said. "You look at the other names on the list and you see some of the best quarterbacks out there, so I'm flattered to be considered on that level. Any time you're a finalist for a big award like the Unitas, it means that you play for a good team. Any recognition you get should be looked at as a team honor instead of an individual one."

 

Through 10 games this year, Robinson has completed 158-of-249 passes for 1,922 yards and 15 touchdowns in leading the Cowboys to an 8-2 overall record and a 5-1 mark in Big 12 play. Perhaps more important than any of his statistics is the fact that he has led the way for an OSU team that has kept winning despite facing significant adversity during the course of the season.

 

The 2009 season has been one of milestones for the Littleton, Colo., native, as he set OSU career records for passing yards, touchdown passes and total offense.

 

Robinson is also one of 12 semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien Award and is on the watch list for the Manning Award. Both of those awards are presented to the nation's top quarterback, regardless of eligibility year.

 

Last year's winner of the Golden Arm Award was Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell. Other past winners include Matt Ryan (Boston College), who is now with the Atlanta Falcons; Brady Quinn (Notre Dame, 2006), now with the Cleveland Browns; the Arizona Cardinals' Matt Leinart (USC, 2005), Eli Manning (Ole Miss, 2003) of the New York Giants; the Cincinnati Bengals' Carson Palmer (USC, 2002); and the Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning (Tennessee, 1997).

 

"When you consider how many great college QBs have won the Golden Arm Award and have gone on to play in the NFL, it is clear that this award has become a significant barometer for future success in the professional ranks," says John C. Unitas, Jr., President of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation.

 

 

 

Oklahoma State quarterback Zac Robinson is one of 21 quarterbacks in the nation nominated for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

 

Entering his senior year and his third year as the Cowboys' starting quarterback, Robinson is already OSU's all-time leader in total offense and is in position to leave OSU as the school's all-time leader in passing yards and touchdown passes as well.

 

 With Robinson starting at quarterback, Oklahoma State has appeared in bowl games each of the last two years and should the Cowboys play in a bowl game again this season, he would be the first quarterback in OSU history to lead his team to bowl games in three consecutive seasons.

 

Robinson was one of 15 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award given to the nation's top player last season. Additionally, he was a finalist for the Manning Award and the Davey O'Brien Award, both of which are given to the nation's top quarterback.

 

He led the Cowboys to a 9-4 record and a trip to the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl by completing 204-of-314 passes for 3,064 yards and 25 touchdowns. One of the nation's top dual-threat quarterbacks, he added 562 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns a well.

 

Robinson is the nation's fifth-ranked career active passer with a 155.3 quarterback rating  and set a school record last year by completing 65 percent of his passes.

 

Last year's Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award was won by Texas Tech's Graham Harrell.

 

2009 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Nominees

Jarrett Brown, West Virginia

Daryll Clark, Penn State

Armanti Edwards, Appalachian State

Max Hall, BYU

Tim Hiller, Western Michigan

Mike Kafka, Northwestern

Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan

Thaddeus Lewis, Duke

Corey Leonard, Arkansas State

Colt McCoy, Texas

Tony Pike, Cincinnati

Patrick Pinkney, East Carolina

Todd Reesing, Kansas

Zac Robinson, Oklahoma State

Tyler Sheehan, Bowling Green

Riley Skinner, Wake Forest

Rusty Smith, Florida Atlantic

Tim Tebow, Florida

Chris Turner, Maryland

Joe Webb, UAB

Juice Williams, Illinois