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NFF Contacts:
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Phil Marwill,
director of communications
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NFF News
14th Annual KeyBank Gridiron Legends Luncheon Series at The College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame announced today that Notre Dame head coach
Brian Kelly will appear as the first speaker in the 2010 KeyBank Gridiron
Legends Luncheon Series at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend.
The Hall of Fame's signature event the annual Enshrinement Festival will be on
July 16-17 and include two days full of family-friendly activities for football
fans of all ages. In the fall, football season at the Hall of Fame will include
university team visits, autograph sessions and tailgate events on the Gridiron
Plaza.
"We're proud to sponsor the 2010 KeyBank Gridiron Luncheon Series," said KeyBank
President Randy Foster. "We value our relationship and affiliation with
the College Football Hall of Fame, and are pleased to support this event and an
organization that does so much for our community. I could not think of a better
speaker than Brian Kelly to kick off this year's series, and I am personally
excited to hear what he has to say. I encourage you to bring your clients,
friends and family to this lunch and the entire series. I know you will enjoy
the experience."
The Hall of Fame is also proud to announce a new partnership with WNDU for the
Gridiron Legends Luncheon Series. Sports director Jeff Jeffers, a 30- year
veteran sports anchor known as "the dean of local sports" will serve as the
emcee for the series.
Luncheons consist of a question and answer session with the featured speaker, a
video presentation and lunch.
Returning as media sponsors in 2010 are the South Bend Tribune, WSBT Radio
Newstalk AM 960 and Pathfinders Advertising and Marketing. This is the 14th
consecutive year KeyBank has sponsored the luncheon series. For more information
on the 2010 KeyBank Gridiron Legends Luncheon Series, and to print an order
form, visit www.collegefootball.org.
2009 NFF National Scholar-Athletes Tim Hiller (Western Michigan), Colt McCoy
(Texas), William V. Campbell Trophy winner Tim Tebow (Florida), Eric
Decker (Minnesota) and Jon Asamoah (Illinois) are participating in
the NFL Combine.
The following William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalists are also currently
participating in the NFL Combine in Indianapolis:
Zane Beadles (Utah), Jeff Byers (USC), Kurtis Gregory (Missouri), Josh Hull
(Penn State), Jammie Kirlew (Indiana), Dan LeFevour (Central Michigan), Jeron
Mastrud (Kansas State), Devin McCourty (Rutgers), Zoltan Mesko (Michigan), Colin
Peek (Alabama) and Ryan Wolfe (UNLV) .
The Chick-Fil-A Bowl will be spun off from the Atlanta Sports Council into a new
entity headed by Gary Stokan, the bowls president and CEO. Stokan will
move his attention to the growth of the bowl, the Chick-Fil-A College Football
Kickoff Classic and the development of the new College Football Hall of Fame.
The independent entity will be under the name Peach Bowl Inc, the founding name
of the 42-year old bowl game. Dan Corso, son of ESPN commentator Lee
Corso, has been tapped to head the chambers sports marketing arm.
1990 William V. Campbell Trophy recipient and current president at
Hampden-Sydney (Va.) Dr. Chris Howard (Air Force) was interviewed by Ali
Velshi in the CNN Newsroom on Tuesday, February 23.
Chapter News
The NFF Northern California Chapter held its 50th annual awards banquet
last week. Former NFL quarterback Bob Lee emceed the event that saw 24 area
scholar-athletes each receive a $1,000 scholarship. The scholar-athletes were
selected by a committee of educators, high school sports officials and
sportswriters in 12 Northern California counties. NFF Director of Membership Ron
Dilatush, former Pac- 10 commissioner Tom Hansen, San Jose State head coach Matt
MacIntyre and former Navy NFF National Scholar-Athlete and current AT&T
president Tim Harden were in attendance at the event.
The NFF Delaware Valley Chapter will be handing out over $35,000 in
scholarships at its 47th annual Scholar-Leader-Athlete Dinner on March 16. The
chapter will also present its Distinguished American Award to Major General
Glenn Rieth, New Jerseys adjutant general. Steve Timko, executive director of
the NJSIAA and dormer athletics director at Hopewell Valley High will receive
the Contribution to Amateur Sports award.
The NFF Orange County (Calif.) Chapter will hold its annual
Scholar-Athlete dinner tonight at the Anaheim Convention Center. The rosters for
the Orange County North-South All-Star football game will be announced at the
event which will honor scholar- athletes from area colleges and high schools.
The NFF Walter J. Zable/San Diego Chapter will honor former San Diego
State defensive back Nick Sanford at its 39th annual Scholar-Leader Athlete
Awards banquet on March 19th.
The NFF Mike Cleary/Northeastern Ohio Chapter named former Cincinnati
coach and current Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly its 2010 Lee Tressel Ohio College
Coach of the Year, which will be given at the chapters annual awards banquet on
April 26. NFF board member and College Football Hall of Famer Archie Griffin
(Ohio State) will be awarded the Distinguished American Award.
The NFF Miss-Lou Chapter gave out $10,000 worth of scholarships to seven
athletes at its 29th annual banquet. Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen was the
keynote speaker. Trinity Episcopal (La.) coach David King was awarded the
Contribution to Amateur Football Award and Premo Stallone Jr. received the
Distinguished American Award.
Former Wyoming and Purdue coach Joe Tiller will be the keynote speaker at the
NFF Wyoming Chapter banquet on March 20 in Laramie.
The 50th annual NFF Lehigh Valley Chapter Awards Dinner (Pa.) will take
place March 7 at the Northhampton Community Center. Former UCLA and St. Louis
Rams Super Bowl-winning coach Dick Vermeil will serve as the guest
speaker for the event.
The NFF Minnesota Chapter is holding its 3rd annual Honoring
Legends-Inspiring Leaders awards banquet on April 18 at the University of St.
Thomas. Former Delaware quarterback and NFL MVP Rich Gannon will be the
featured speaker.
The NFF Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter will host its quarterly luncheon
on March 10. Northwest Missouri State head coach Mel Tjeerdsma will be the guest
speaker. Tjeerdsma recently led the Bearcats to the NCAA Div. II national title,
claiming the NFFs Asa S. Bushnell Trophy, presented annually to the Div. II
national champion.
The NFF Central Pennsylvania Chapter is hosting its 13th annual awards
banquet on March 28 at the Penn Stater in University Park. Rutgers coach
Greg Schiano will serve as the guest speaker. Michigan head coach Rich
Rodriquez will serve as the guest speaker at the NFF Toledo Chapter
Scholar-Athlete awards dinner on March 8.
NFF William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalist Arizona State linebacker
Mike Nixon will speak on behalf of the scholar-athlete class at next months
NFF Valley of the Sun Chapters 29th Annual Banquet at the Scottsdale
Plaza Resort on March 6. Nixon is only the third athlete in the history of the
chapter to be named both a high school and college scholar-athlete. Darius
Leopaul, a senior at Phoenix Central High, will receive the Martha Shaw Courage
Award. Leopaul carried a 3.5 GPA while playing two sports, football and
wrestling, all while he lived on his own and worked to support himself. Larry
Kentera, long-time defensive coach at Arizona State, head coach at Northern
Arizona and the man who brought American football to Serbia, will accept the
Pete Altieri Lifetime Achievement Coaching.
The NFF National Capital Region (D.C.) Chapter will be hosting its third
annual, Scholar- Athlete Banquet on Sunday, March 21, 2010. The scholar-athlete
banquet will be held at the prestigious Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington,
Virginia. Mike London, the new head football coach at Virginia, will be the
guest speaker. Five scholar-athletes will be awarded financial scholarships for
their excellence in the classroom and on the football field.
To become an NFF member, please contact NFF Director of Membership Ron
Dilatush at 800- 486-1865 or via email at rdilatush@footballfoundation.com.
Worldwide membership now is at 12,000-plus in 119 chapters. Visit
www.footballfoundation.org to join online.
TWO-MINUTE DRILL
Scheduling
Ohio State will open the 2014 season on the road against Navy at
M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, home of the NFLs Ravens... Louisiana Tech
and Grambling will open the 2010 season in the inaugural Port City
Classic at Independence Stadium in Shreveport.
Business
Frisco, Texas, and the Southland Conference, led by Commissioner Tom Burnett,
has been chosen as the hosts for the next three FCS title games at Pizza Hut
Park. The championship game will be the culmination of a newly expanded 20-team
championship bracket and the first game in Frisco will be played January 7,
2011... Bill Moos has been named the athletics director at Washington
State... Dr. Camden Wood Selig is the new athletics director at Old Dominion
University... Matt Lubick, son of longtime Colorado State
coach Sonny Lubick, has been named the passing game coordinator at Duke...
Mike Schultz accepted the offensive coordinator position at Middle
Tennessee State... Don Dobes has accepted the defensive coordinator
job and Jim Pry accepted the offensive coordinator job at Dartmouth...
Ron McCrone accepted the defensive coordinator job at Cornell.
Awards and Honors
A resolution to honor the 2009 Iowa football team was offered by
Congressman Dave Loebsack in the U.S. House of Representatives... ACC
commissioner John Swofford announced a list of 36 student-athletes who
have been selected for the Weaver-James-Corrigan Award including football
players Boston College placekicker Steve Aponavicius and NFF Campbell Trophy
semifinalist Miami (Fla.) offensive lineman Matthew Pipho. Each recipient will
receive $5,000 to contribute to their graduate education. Each recipient has
performed with distinction in both the classroom and his/her respective sports,
while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community.
Miscellaneous
Curt Tomasevicz, former Nebraska football player and an Academic
All Big-12 honoree, was the brake man on the gold medal winning four- man USA
bobsled team... ESPN broadcaster Colin Cowherd donated $50,000 to his
alma mater Eastern Washington in support of the schools plans to install
red turf in its football stadium... The Idaho State Board of Education approved
plans to move forward with plans for suites, club seating and a new press box at
the Idahos Kibbie Dome... A total of 48,284,673 fans attended games at all 630
NCAA schools during the 2009 season. Home attendance at Division II and III
games increased by 55,053 and 32,737, respectively. For the 12th straight year,
Michigan lead the way with 108,933 fans per game, followed by Penn
State, Ohio State and Texas as the only schools to top the
100,000 mark. The Wolverines have captured the total attendance title 40 times,
34 of those since 1974... CBS College Sports and AT&T announced the launch of
the network on AT&T U-verse TV... Missouri has established a
complimentary-concession, closest-to-the field football seating plan for this
season in a south end- zone bleacher section that MU officials are calling
Touchdown Terrace... AECOM will study six different plans involving upgrading
Houstons Robertson Stadium... ESPN360.com is soon to be ESPN3.com,
following an announcement from ESPN that the networks 24-7 website will
officially re-launch as ESPN3 on April 4.
Obituaries
Former Baylor football team captain Bobby Ray Taylor died on
February 22 at age 92... Former TCU guard Bobby Sherrod, one of
the four surviving members of the Horned Frogs 1938 national championship team,
died at age 90... Mosi Tatupu, a fullback on USCs 1974 national
championship team, died last week at age 54... Dean Emeritus of Admissions at
Bates College (Maine) and long-time NFF Maine Chapter member Milton
Lindholm, died February 27 at age 98. Lindholm played four years of football
at Bates and was on the 1932 team that played Yale to a scoreless tie at the
Yale Bowl, the first time in the history of Yale football that they did not win
their opening game.
Key NFF Dates for 2010
July 16-17, 2010- 2010 Enshrinement Festival, South Bend, Indiana
Tuesday, December 7, 2010- 53rd Annual Awards Dinner, New York City, New York
NFF Information
The NFF is currently accepting nominations for the Hampshire Honor Society;
nominations are due no later than February 26. To request nominations forms
please contact Hillary Jeffries by email at hjeffries@footballfoundation.com.
Advertising in NFF publications will put your organization in front of key
decision makers in football including coaches, players, former players, as well
as NFL and college football administrators throughout the year. To inquire about
the print advertising opportunities available to your organization, please
contact Bret Krift with IMG College at 859-226- 4406 or
bret.krift@imgworld.com.
Become a fan of the National Football Foundation on Facebook - Upload your game
day photos, check out pictures of the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, and chat with
other college football fans.
For more information on the NFF and college football, including announcements
from the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and NCAA Football,
please visit www.footballfoundation.com.
Sign up for This Week in NCAA Football at ncaafootball.com.
-NFF-
NFF News
Stanford running back Toby Gerhardt accepted the Doak Walker Award
on Friday night at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas. Former SMU running
backs Eric Dickerson and Craig James, known in college as the
Pony Express, received the Doak Walker Legends Award. Notable attendees
included: Emcee and NFF Gridiron Club of Dallas board member Scott Murray;
presenter and CBS broadcaster Verne Lundquist; the hosts of ESPN College
GameDay Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso; Inaugural
Doak Walker Award winner Greg Lewis (Washington) ; College Football Hall
of Famer Roger Staubach (Navy) ; SMU athletics director Steve
Orsini; SMU head coach June Jones and Dallas Cowboys VP
Stephen Jones.
The NFF Touchdown Club of Houston, in conjunction with Houston ISD (Texas),
hosted a football showcase that gave 398 Houston-area seniors the opportunity to
showcase their talent in hopes of earning a scholarship from Division II,
Division III and NAIA schools. Last year the showcase earned the athletes an
estimated $3 million in scholarships.
The Black College Football Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class of eight
players, two coaches and a journalist on Saturday in Atlanta. The class is made
up of nine College Football Hall of Famers including: Buck Buchanan
(Grambling State); Willie Gallimore (Florida A&M); Willie Lanier (Morgan State);
Walter Payton (Jackson State); Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State); Ben
Stevenson (Tuskegee (Ala.)); Paul Younger (Grambling State); Alonzo Gaither
(Florida A&M) and Eddie Robinson (Grambling State)
Over 100 former players gathered for the opening of the Eddie G. Robinson
Museum, named for the College Football Hall of Fame coach, on the Grambling
State campus on February 13. Robinson, who spent 57 years at Grambling, won a
record 408 games and coached four College Football Hall of Famers during his
career. Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly delivered the keynote address
and notable former player Willie Brown, one of four Pro Football Hall of
Famers coached by Robinson, was in attendance.
College Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Paternos glasses brought in
$9,000 at a benefit for Penn State Public Broadcasting.
Chapter News
Tate Nichols of Ryles (Kentucky) and Andrew Perkins of Cincinnati
Hills Christian Academy (Ohio) took home the Thats My Boy football scholar
athlete awards at the 43rd annual NFF Greater Cincinnati Chapter banquet
on Thursday. Dale Muller was named the Marvin Lewis Community Fund Coach
of the Year. The Anthony Munoz Offensive and Defensive Lineman of the Year
awards were presented to Matt James and Marcus Rush. Dr. Angelo
Colisomo received the Contribution to Amateur Football Award and Cory
Hardin from the College of Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) received the Tom
Potter Award of Courage.
The NFF Central Indiana Chapter will award 13 local high school players
at its banquet on February 27 at the Indianapolis Colts Complex. Indiana High
School Athlete Association commissioner Blake Ress will be given the
Distinguished American Award. Indiana head coach Bill Lynch will be the
guest speaker.
The NFF Mike Cleary/Northeastern Ohio Chapter named former Cincinnati
coach and current Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly its 2010 Lee Tressel Ohio
College Coach of the Year, which will be given at the chapters annual awards
banquet on April 26. NFF board member and College Football Hall of Famer
Archie Griffin (Ohio State) will be awarded the Distinguished American
Award.
Former Wyoming and Purdue coach Joe Tiller will be the keynote speaker at
the NFF Wyoming Chapter banquet on March 20 in Laramie.
The NFF Miss-Lou Chapter will hold its 29th annual awards banquet on
February 25. The keynote speaker will be Mississippi State head coach Dan
Mullen.
The 50th annual NFF Lehigh Valley Chapter Awards Dinner (Pa.) will take
place March 7 at the Northhampton Community Center. Former UCLA and St. Louis
Rams Super Bowl-winning coach Dick Vermeil will serve as the guest
speaker for the event.
The NFF Minnesota Chapter is holding its 3rd annual Honoring
Legends-Inspiring Leaders awards banquet on April 18 at the University of St.
Thomas. Former Delaware quarterback and NFL MVP Rich Gannon will be the
featured speaker.
The NFF Central Pennsylvania Chapter is hosting its 13th annual awards
banquet on March 28 at the Penn Stater in University Park. Rutgers coach
Greg Schiano will serve as the guest speaker.
Michigan head coach Rich Rodriquez will serve as the guest speaker at the
NFF Toledo Chapter Scholar-Athlete awards dinner on March 8.
The NFF South Jersey Chapter is holding its 18th Annual Scholar-Athlete
Banquet on Sunday at 5. Gettysburg Colleges (Pa.) Matt Flynn and
Delaware Valley Colleges (N.J) Mike Isgro will be honored as Collegiate
Players of the Year.
The NFF Chicago-Metro Chapter awards dinner will be tonight. College
Football Hall of Famers Gary Beban (UCLA, 1967 NFF National Scholar-
Athlete), coach Tom Beck, Jimbo Covert (Pitt), Ted Hendricks
(Miami), John Lattner (Notre Dame) and Steve McMichael (Texas)
will be in attendance. Wisconsin-Whitewater kicker Jeff Schebler will
receive the Fred Mitchell Outstanding Kicker award.
Arizona State linebacker Mike Nixon will speak on behalf of the
scholar-athlete class at next months NFF Valley of the Sun Chapters
29th Annual Banquet at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort on March 6. Nixon is only the
third athlete in the history of the chapter to be named both a high school and
college scholar-athlete.
To become an NFF member, please contact NFF Director of Membership Ron
Dilatush at 800- 486-1865 or via email at rdilatush@footballfoundation.com.
Worldwide membership now is at 12,000-plus in 119 chapters. Visit
www.footballfoundation.org to join online.
TWO-MINUTE DRILL
Scheduling
Business
Long-time Ole Miss Senior Associate Athletics Director for Media
Relations Langston Rogers will retire effective at the end of April.
Rogers began his career at Ole Miss in 1981... Cal hired Clancy
Pendergast as defensive coordinator... Tommy Bain has been elected to
a two-year term as chairman of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, the
sponsoring agency of the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.
Awards and Honors
Current New York Giants center Shaun OHara is funding a $100,000
scholarship that will be given to a walk-on football player who earns
scholarship status at Rutgers, his alma mater... College Football Hall of Famer
Ron Simmons (Florida State) was inducted into the state of Georgia Sports
Hall of Fame last weekend... College Football Hall of Famer Pervis Atkins
(New Mexico State) will be inducted into the state of New Mexico Sports Hall of
Fame on March 4... Northern Arizona Athletics Director Jim Fallis was
inducted into the University of Northern Colorado Athletics Hall of Fame... The
NACDA and the McLendon Foundation are excited to announce the 2010 Hall of Fame
inductees: Percy Bates; Howard Gentry Sr. ; Mike HayneskRafer
Johnson. Additionally, this year, the McClendon Foundation will be honoring
minority firsts in athletics with the Pioneer Award. The 2010 recipients
include Barry Alvarez, first Hispanic to win the Rose Bowl; College
Football Hall of Famer Ernie Davis (Syracuse) ; USC Athletics Director
Mike Garrett; UCLA athletics director Dan Guerrero; Tommy Hawkins;
Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage and Burl Toler...
Five college football student-athletes have been named finalists for the 2010
Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Award. Read their inspirational stories
today at www.upliftingathletes.org/vote.
Miscellaneous
College Football Hall of Famer Jim McMahon (BYU) was introduced Friday as
the new owner of the Chicago Slaughter, an indoor football team for the CIFL,
who are coached by fellow College Football Hall of Famer Steve McMichael
(Texas) ... College Football Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden will
serve as the keynote speaker at the 2010 Nebraska Football Spring Coaches
Clinic... Inaugural William V. Campbell Trophy winner and former Air Force
football player Dr. Chris Howards book Money Makers Inside the New
World of Finance and Business has been released by Macmillan Publishing. The
book illuminates the often secretive industries of the private sector that drive
the modern economy. Robert Steel, the former CEO of Wachovia and Vice Chairman
of Goldman Sachs, wrote the foreword for the book.
Obituaries
Life-long official John Bruce Finlayson died Friday at age 86. Finlayson
began his career in 1947 and by 1953 was officiating games for the Big 7
(precursor to the Big Eight and Big 12). In 1962, he began a 12-year NFL
officiating career. Following his time in the NFL, he accepted a position with
the Big Eight as Supervisor of Football Officials and held that position for 15
years... Long-time college football coach (Boston College, Duke and Wake Forest)
Sam Timer, passed away at age 83... Former Bates College (Maine)
athletics director and head coach Robert Hatch died on February 13. He
was 85... Irv Etler, a former defensive coordinator and head coach at
Xavier University passed away Feb. 16. He was 74 years of age... Ole Miss player
Bennie F. Abram died on Friday at 20... Rajaan Bennett, a recent
signee at Vanderbilt, died Thursday at age 18.
Key NFF Dates for 2010
July 16-17, 2010- 2010 Enshrinement Festival, South Bend, Indiana
Tuesday, December 7, 2010- 53rd Annual Awards Dinner, New York City, New York
NFF Information
The NFF is currently accepting nominations for the Hampshire Honor Society;
nominations are due no later than February 26. To request nominations forms
please contact Hillary Jeffries by email at hjeffries@footballfoundation.com.
Advertising in NFF publications will put your organization in front of key
decision makers in football including coaches, players, former players, as well
as NFL and college football administrators throughout the year. To inquire about
the print advertising opportunities available to your organization, please
contact Bret Krift with IMG College at 859-226-4406 or bret.krift@imgworld.com.
Become a fan of the National Football Foundation on Facebook - Upload your game
day photos, check out pictures of the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, and chat with
other college football fans.
For more information on the NFF and college football, including announcements
from the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and NCAA Football,
please visit www.footballfoundation.com.
Sign up for This Week in NCAA Football at ncaafootball.com.
-NFF-
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