Jaguars first-year receiver and Jacksonville native Micah Ross is the December honoree for the Jaguars/Morgan Stanley Community Leader Award, presented monthly during the NFL season to the Jaguars player that demonstrates exemplary community involvement.

In partnership with Morgan Stanley, a $500 donation will be made on Ross' behalf to the Otis F. Smith Foundation, a Jacksonville non-profit that provides programs and services to disadvantaged children in northeast Florida.

Four players are named monthly winners during the 2002 season. The program concludes later this month on December 17 with a year-end luncheon at ALLTEL Stadium when an additional $3,000 charity donation will be made to the player selected as the 2002 Community Leader of the Year. Punter Chris Hanson was named as the September winner, linebacker Wali Rainer was October's honoree, and rookie quarterback David Garrard was November's winner.

Ross serves as a role model for youth at local schools and frequently attends Jaguars promotional events in Jacksonville. He recently spoke during a Department of Juvenile Justice reading program in Orange Park, visited A. Philip Randolph Academy of Technology, has attended several team lunch and dinner events for fans at the Radisson Riverwalk Hotel, and helped distribute food on November 26 to east Jacksonville families during Thanksgiving week as part of the Jaguars annual Operation Blessing program.

For more information about the program or the upcoming year-end luncheon on December 17, please contact the Jaguars Community Relations department at (904) 633-6582.