As the Ohio Valley Conference celebrates its 75th anniversary this academic year, we look back at Eastern Illinois part in that history each Tuesday
EIU football is home to the OVC's two Walter Payton Award winners - Tony Romo (2002) and Jimmy Garoppolo (2013).
Romo won the award in 2002 after claiming his record third straight OVC Player of the Year Award. As a senior he passed for 3,165 yards and 34 touchdowns in 2002, completing 258 of 407 passes (63.4 percent) in leading Eastern Illinois to an 8-3 record, the Ohio Valley Conference co-title, and a I-AA playoff berth. He was the seventh quarterback to win the award. Romo received 24 first-place votes and 268 points from the panel of 109 I-AA sports information directors and selected media. Following Romo in the voting were Villanova quarterback Brett Gordon, who earned 18 first-place votes and 245 total points, and Grambling State's Bruce Eugene, who had 21 first-place votes and 234 total points.
Garoppolo won the award in 2013 after earning OVC Player of the Year honors and leading EIU to a No. 2 national ranking. He ranked first in the FCS in passing yards (4,489), passing yards per game (374.1) and touchdown passes (48), second in total offense (377.9 yards per game) and points responsible for (25.8 per game), third in passing efficiency (170.6), and fourth in completions per game (26.7). Garoppolo became the second Payton Award winner from the Ohio Valley Conference school, following in Romo's footsteps, by outdistancing Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams and Towson running back Terrance West in the voting for FCS outstanding player honors. The senior gained just over half of the first-place votes - 74 of 147 - and 576 points from a national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries. Adams was second with 446 points and West third with 370.
#OVCit | #OVC75
