(August 5, 2003) ?C With nine All-Patriot League players returning for the 2003 season, it??s no surprise that the Fordham University Rams were tabbed as the favorites to win the 2003 Patriot League football championship by the League??s head coaches and sports information directors. Leading the returning All-League players is senior running back Kirwin Watson (Sunrise, FL/St. Thomas Aquinas), who was chosen as the 2003 Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Watson, the 2002 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and two-time First Team selection, returns after finishing tenth in the voting last year for the Walter Payton Award, presented to the top I-AA Offensive Player. He was also named Third Team All-America by The Sports Network, the Associated Press, and the Football Gazette last fall. A First Team All-Patriot League selection the past two seasons, Watson is the most prolific running back in Fordham football history. Last year, he set school records for rushing yards in a season when he gained 1,467 yards on 285 carries. The 1,467 yards was the fourth best total in Patriot League history and currently sits in eighth place on the league??s all-time rushing list with 3,140 yards. He is also just 107 yards shy of becoming Fordham??s all-time leading rusher. Head coach Dave Clawson, the 2001 and 2002 Patriot League Coach of the Year, opens camp on August 6th as the Rams welcome 15 starters back from last year??s team that went 10-3, 6-1 in the Patriot League. The Rams advanced to the NCAA I-AA Playoffs, defeating fourth seeded Northeastern University before falling to Villanova in the quarterfinals. Fordham, who tied for the Patriot League title last year with Colgate, received 14 first place votes followed by Colgate with four. Lehigh was third in the poll followed by Lafayette, Towson, Holy Cross, Georgetown and Bucknell. 2003 Patriot League Pre-Season Poll (voting of League coaches and sports information directors) 1) Fordham (12)??.98 2) Colgate (4)????.85 3) Lehigh????????72 4) Lafayette??????61 5) Towson??????..51 6) Holy Cross????.31 7) Georgetown????28 8) Bucknell??????.25 First place votes in parenthesis. Pre-Season Offensive Player of the Year: Fordham Sr. RB Kirwin Watson Pre-Season Defensive Player of the Year: Colgate, Sr. LB Tem Lukabu