NFL Football 2009

NFL 2009 | Quarterback DREW BREES of the New Orleans Saints FedEx Air NFL 2009 Player of the Year
Drew Brees Saints QB

FedEx and the NFL announced the winners of the seventh annual Fedex Air & Ground Nfl Players of the Year Awards at a press conference in South Florida, site of Super Bowl XLIV.

Quarterback DREW BREES of the New Orleans Saints was named the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Year. Running back CHRIS JOHNSON of the Tennessee Titans was named the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Year.

Outstanding Air Performance - Drew Brees

New Orleans Saints Quarterback DREW BREES completed 70.62 percent of his passes in 2009, setting the NFL record for completion percentage in a season.

Brees threw for 4,388 yards, extending his consecutive 4,000 passing yard seasons to four, a franchise record. Brees threw 34 touchdowns and became the first player in NFL history to throw six touchdown passes on Kickoff Weekend.

With nine touchdown passes through Week 2, Brees tied for the most TD passes through the first two games of a season. Brees became the fastest quarterback to reach 15,000 passing yards with a team when the Saints beat the Giants in Week 6, reaching this milestone in 53 games.

Drew Brees quarterbacked the Saints to a 13-3 record and the number one seed in the NFC. Brees was nominated for five FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week awards in 2009, winning five times.

Outstanding Ground Performance - Chris Johnson

NFL 2009 | Running back CHRIS JOHNSON of the Tennessee Titans FedEx Ground NFL 2009 Player of the Year
Chris Johnson Titans RB

Tennessee Titans Running Back CHRIS JOHNSON rushed for 2,006 yards in 2009 becoming the sixth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards.

Johnson also broke the scrimmage yards record totaling 2,509. Johnson recorded 11 consecutive 100-yard games, tied for the second-longest streak in NFL history, and posted at least 125 rushing yards in six consecutive games, tying the NFL record. This season, Johnson became the first player in NFL history with six consecutive games of 125+ rushing yards and a 5.0+ yards per carry average in each of those games.

In Week 2, Johnson became the first player in NFL history to record a 90-plus yard rushing touchdown (91), 50-plus yard rushing touchdown (57), and 60-plus yard receiving touchdown (69) in a game.

Johnson started all 16 games and had 14 rushing touchdowns. He was nominated for six FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week awards in 2009, winning twice.

Brees and Johnson were selected from a panel of three finalists in each of their respective Air and Ground categories. The finalists were chosen by a panel of NFL experts based on the season's fan voting. The other FedEx Air NFL Players of the Year finalists were quarterbacks PEYTON MANNING of the Indianapolis Colts and BRETT FAVRE of the Minnesota Vikings, while the FedEx Ground NFL Players of the Year finalists included running backs MAURICE JONES-DREW of the Jacksonville Jaguars and ADRIAN PETERSON of the Minnesota Vikings.

More than 2,070,665 fan votes were cast at NFL.com from Monday, January 11 through Friday, January 29, to decide the winners.

Former winners of the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Year Award include:

2008 - New Orleans Saints QB DREW BREES and Minnesota Vikings RB ADRIAN PETERSON

2007 - Green Bay Packers QB BRETT FAVRE and Jacksonville Jaguars RB FRED TAYLOR

2006 - New Orleans Saints QB DREW BREES and San Diego Chargers RB LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON

2005 - Bengals QB CARSON PALMER and Seattle Seahawks RB SHAUN ALEXANDER

2004 - Indianapolis Colts QB PEYTON MANNING and New York Jets RB CURTIS MARTIN

2003 - Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning and Green Bay Packers RB AHMAN GREEN

NFL 2009 Fedex Air & Ground NFL Players Of The Week

Week Air Ground
Source: NFL
Wk 1Drew Brees, NOAdrian Peterson, MIN
Wk 2Drew Brees, NOFrank Gore, SF
Wk 3Peyton Manning, INDMaurice Jones-Drew, JAX
Wk 4Brett Favre, MINRashard Mendenhall, PIT
Wk 5Peyton Manning, INDCedric Benson, CIN
Wk 6Drew Brees, NOThomas Jones, NYJ
Wk 7Carson Palmer, CINCedric Benson, CIN
Wk 8Brett Favre, MINChris Johnson, TEN
Wk 9Kurt Warner, ARIMichael Turner, ATL
Wk 10Brett Favre, MINAdrian Peterson, MIN
Wk 11Brett Favre, MINRicky Williams, MIA
Wk 12Drew Brees, NOChris Johnson, TEN
Wk 13Kurt Warner, ARICorrell Buckhalter, DEN
Wk 14Drew Brees, NORay Rice, BAL
Wk 15Ben Roethlisberger, PITJerome Harrison, CLE
Wk 16Jay Cutler, CHIJonathan Stewart, CAR
Wk 17Brett Favre, MINJamaal Charles, KC

 

About FedEx

As the Official Delivery Service Sponsor of the NFL, Super Bowl and Pro Bowl, FedEx understands the need for a winning game plan, and created the Air & Ground program to highlight superior on-field performance while delivering safe kids off the field. Because FedEx has thousands of delivery trucks out on the roads each day, the company is committed to funding pedestrian safety improvements through its 10-year relationship with Safe Kids USA.

Drew Brees & Chris Johnson Named
NFL 2009 FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Year