(Dec. 19, 2002) ?C Fordham University junior running back Kirwin Watson (Sunrise, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) was named Third Team All-America by the Associated Press it was announced today. Watson, who was named a First Team ECAC All-Star last week, is the first Ram to earn AP All-America honors since punter Barry Cantrell in 1997. Watson, the 2002 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and a two-time first-team All-League selection, won his second-straight Patriot League rushing title this year, averaging 112.8 yards per game, and he scored 19 touchdowns (18 rushing) to win the Patriot League scoring crown. He is already eighth on the League's career rushing list with 3,140 yards. Among the I-AA national leaders, Watson is ranked ninth in the nation in both rushing and scoring (8.77 points/game). Watson, who finished tenth in voting for the Walter Payton Award as the top I-AA Player in the country, rushed for 1,467 yards on the year, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the second year in a row. He becomes the first Fordham running back to compile two 1,000-yard seasons. Last year, Watson gained 1,076 yards to become the first Ram to surpass the 1,000-yard mark on the I-AA level. His 1,467 yards is also a Fordham single season record, surpassing Chip Kron??s record of 1,263 set in 1984. Over his career at Fordham, Watson has amassed 631 carries for 3,140 yards and 28 rushing touchdowns. He is second in each category on the Fordham career list. Fordham finished the season with a 10-3 overall record, 6-1 in the Patriot League. The Rams advanced to the NCAA I-AA playoffs for the first time in school history, defeating Northeastern in the first round before falling to Villanova in the quarterfinals. The ten wins are the most on the I-AA level for Fordham (the previous best was 7 last year) while the six Patriot League wins is the most wins in the league for the Rams (the previous best was 5 last year). Fordham was ranked 21st in both the ESPN/Sportsticker and the Sports Network Top 25 final regular season polls.