Gatorade® National Football Player of the Year: Andrew Brown

CHESAPEAKE, Va., Dec 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 29^th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, recently announced Andrew Brown of Oscar Smith High School (Chesapeake, Va.) as its 2013-14 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year.  Brown was surprised with the news by former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber during school.

"It felt great to surprise Andrew with the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year award and welcome him into one of the most prestigious legacy programs in high school sports," said Barber.  "Gatorade has been on the sidelines fueling athletic performance for years, so to be recognized by a brand that understands the game and truly helps athletes perform is a huge honor for these kids."

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Brown as the nation's best high school football player.  A national advisory panel comprised of sport-specific experts and sports journalists helped select Brown from more than 1 million high school football players nationwide. Brown is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year award, to be presented at a special afternoon ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards in July.

The 6-foot-4, 290-pound senior defensive tackle has led the Tigers to a 14-0 record and a berth in the Division 6 state final against unbeaten Centreville (14-0), scheduled for Dec. 14. Brown has amassed 93 tackles entering the state title game, with 18 sacks, 28 tackles for loss, eight forced fumbles and six fumbles recovered. A First Team All-State selection and a USA Today All-USA First Team honoree, he has been chosen to play in the 2014 Under Armour All-America Game. Brown is rated as the nation's No. 4 recruit in the Class of 2014 by ESPN.

Brown has maintained a weighted GPA of 3.64 in the classroom. A devoted member of his church community, he has volunteered locally on behalf of youth football camps.

"Andrew Brown is fantastic," said Tom Lemming, a recruiting analyst for the CBS Sports Network. "I saw [Pro Football Hall of Famer] Reggie White play at Howard High in Tennessee back in 1979, and Brown is the closest thing I've seen to him in 35 years in the business. He's got the build, tenacity, aggressiveness and quickness to be a guy we talk about for a long time."

Brown has committed to play football on an athletic scholarship at the University of Virginia beginning in the winter of 2014.

"Without question, Andrew is deserving of recognition as the nation's best high school football player based on his statistics on the field and the impact his accomplishments have had on Oscar Smith's success," said Gatorade Vice President, Brand Marketing Morgan Flatley.  "But he is also a shining example to peers and aspiring young athletes of what a leader and a student-athlete should be.  He represents everything we hope for in a Gatorade Player of the Year recipient."

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by USA TODAY High School Sports and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Former notable Gatorade National Players of the Year include:

• Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Peyton Manning
• WNBA all-time leading scorer and rebounder Lisa Leslie
• NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith
• Kansas City Royals Cy Young award-winner Zach Grienke

For more information on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of former winners, and future announcement dates, visit the Gatorade Player of the Year Web site at http://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Gatorade.

About Gatorade
The Gatorade Company, a division of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), provides sports performance innovations designed to meet the needs of athletes at all competitive levels and across a broad range of sports. Gatorade Thirst Quencher® is backed by more than 40 years of research and is scientifically formulated and athletically proven to quench thirst, replace fluids and electrolytes, and provide carbohydrate energy to enhance athletic performance. The company's product portfolio is built around the G Series™, a 1-2-3 approach to athlete nutrition and hydration before (Gatorade Prime 01™), during (Gatorade® Perform 02 and G2® Perform 02), and after (Gatorade Recover 03™) training or competition. For more information, please visit www.gatorade.com. 

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 18 different product lines that each generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales.  Our main businesses – Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade – also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in over 200 countries.  With more than $43 billion in 2008 revenues, PepsiCo employs 198,000 people who are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose.  By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide.  For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

About USA TODAY Sports Media Group
The USA TODAY Sports Media Group encompasses all sports initiatives across USA TODAY Sports and Gannett's more than 100 well-known local media brands. It also includes the sports photography wire service USA TODAY Sports Images, USA TODAY High School Sports and the hundreds of sites within USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties such as thebiglead.com and mixed martial arts site MMAjunkie.com, among others. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc.

SOURCE The Gatorade Company