Running back Tony Fisher of the Green Bay Packers, running back William Green of the Cleveland Browns, tight end Doug Jolley of the Oakland Raiders, running back Clinton Portis of the Denver Broncos and tight end Jeremy Shockey of the New York Giants are the finalists for Pepsi NFL Rookie Of The Week WEEK honors for games played on December 8-9, the NFL announced Tuesday.
Fans can vote for one of these five players on NFL.com from Tuesday morning through Wednesday afternoon to determine the Pepsi NFL Rookie Of The Week. The Pepsi NFL Rookie Of The Week will be announced Thursday on NFL.com. It is the first weekly NFL honor to be selected solely by NFL fans.
After the regular season, five players will be nominated for Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Fans can vote for the winner on NFL.com throughout the month of January. The winner will be announced at a press conference at Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego.
A closer look at the finalists:
- Green Bay's Tony Fisher rushed for a career-high 96 yards and scored the game-wining touchdown in the Packers' 26-22 win over Minnesota. Fisher scored the game-winning touchdown on a 14-yard run with 1:06 remaining in the game, and also caught five passes for 19 yards.
- Cleveland's William Green rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries and caught three passes for 25 yards in the Browns' 21-20 win over Jacksonville. Green rushed six times for 40 yards and scored on a three-yard run on Cleveland's game-tying drive with 5:05 remaining in the third quarter. Green has rushed for 423 yards in the past four games and is the second-leading rookie with 584 yards rushing.
- Oakland's Doug Jolley caught six passes for 104 yards in the Raiders' 27-7 win over San Diego. Jolley recorded his first 100-yard receiving performance and has 21 receptions for 286 yards over the past four games.
- Denver's Clinton Portis rushed for a game-high 103 yards on 24 carries in the Broncos' 19-13 loss to the New York Jets. Portis recorded his sixth 100-yard performance of the season and became the first rookie to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing mark this season. He has 1,098 yards rushing, nine touchdowns and his 5.1 yards per carry average ranks second among 1,000-yard rushers.
- New York's Jeremy Shockey caught five passes for 89 yards, both team game-highs, in the Giants' 27-21 win over Washington. Four of Shockey's five receptions were for first downs, and he caught a 20-yard pass on third-and-six to continue the Giants first scoring drive of the game. Shockey leads all NFL tight ends with 54 receptions and 652 receiving yards.
This is Pepsi's first year as the official soft drink sponsor of the NFL.
