Fans Recognize Former Back-Up For Leading Jacksonville to the Playoffs and Emerging as One of the Game’s Top Quarterbacks.

Thousands of fans voted and selected Jacksonville’s David Garrard as the inaugural VIZIO TOP VALUE PERFORMER.  Garrard, whose $1.1 million salary is 28th lowest among this season’s 32 starting quarterbacks, went from a back-up to becoming one of the game’s most efficient quarterbacks, making him the “top value performer” for the 2007 season.

VIZIO created the award to salute the athlete whose performance on the field outpaced his salary by the widest margin.  The emergence of these “value performers” is often the difference between winning and losing in a sport that epitomizes parity.  Garrard captured more than 30 percent of the votes with Cleveland’s Derek Anderson coming in second place.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by the fans as the VIZIO TOP VALUE PERFORMER,” said Garrard. “It’s been an incredible journey this season and I’m grateful to my teammates, family and friends, and the Jacksonville fans that supported me every step of the way.”

Garrard finished the season as the league’s third most efficient passer (102.2), throwing for 2,509 yards, 18 touchdowns and a meager 3 interceptions. While his regular season performance earned him the VIZIO TOP VALUE PERFORMER award, his banner year will likely be remembered best for the dramatic fourth-down, fourth-quarter scamper that put Jacksonville in range for the game-winning field goal that defeated Pittsburgh, earning Garrard his first Playoff victory.

Garrard showed glimpses of his potential during a handful of starts in 2006 turning in solid performances filling in for the team’s injured starter. Following an impressive 2007 pre-season, Jacksonville turned the starting role over to Garrard and he rewarded that decision leading the team to the Divisional Round of the Playoffs and emerging as one of the game’s top Quarterbacks.

In an era of high-paid superstars with multi-million dollar contracts, it’s often the players with smaller contracts that emerge to perform above and beyond expectations and bring the highest value to their teams. In honor of these unique “over achievers”, VIZIO, America’s Fastest Growing Flat Panel HDTV Company, is calling on fans to vote for the professional football player most deserving of the VIZIO TOP VALUE PERFORMER award.

A panel of three highly-respected former pro football General Managers were commissioned to evaluate and select six finalists for the inaugural VIZIO TOP VALUE PERFORMER award. The panel includes, Tom Donahoe the former Pittsburgh General Manager during the better part of the 90s building the framework of its eventual Championship team in 2005, Ernie Accorsi who helped navigate New York to its championship game appearance in 2001 and Ron Wolf who recognized the untapped talent of a back-up quarterback in Atlanta, brought him to Green Bay and laid the foundation for a perennial championship-caliber team.

“Every General Manager knows that the emergence of one or two of these ‘value’ athletes makes the difference in a team’s success during the season.” “Whether they earn a spot during the pre-season, or are thrust into action because of an injury, when these athletes deliver great performances they become instant fan favorites because we all like to see the underdog succeed.” - Ron Wolf

The panel evaluated players based on their regular season individual performance and statistics, factoring in the success of their teams, the specific role they played to that success and measured all of this against their base salaries to come up with the following finalists: