The award hype begins

Samford running back Chris Evans, an Alexandria product, is among the first four players The Sports Network released on its Payton Award Watch -- the preliminary list for the FCS equivilent of the Heisman Trophy.

There are four more segments coming, since the 20 players on the initial list are being released on an alphabetical basis, so the network says.

That would mean, if you believe he has the talent to be the best players in the subdivision, Jax State quarterback Ryan Perrilloux should be on the list in due time. Perrilloux wasn't on the list at all last year, a Network rep told me then, because he never played on the I-AA level before and transfers don't get considered for the award -- no matter how high profile they were on the bigger stage -- when they first come into the FCS.

Of course, no one would dispute Perrilloux has the athletic ability to contend for the award -- some preseason magazines already have him as the OVC Player of the Year -- but one might wonder how much the off-the-field stuff that got him here and will remain linked to him will keep people from considering him.

What the quartereback thinks about the award or any chances he has for being considered for it won't be known until at least Aug. 6. That's when athletic department officials say the quarterback will be made available to the media -- the group, who along with school publicists, that will be voting on the award.