2003 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Eli Manning (Ole Miss), son of National Football Foundation chairman Archie Manning, led the New York Giants to a thrilling 17- 14 upset of the New England Patriots in last night's Super Bowl XLII.
Manning followed brother Peyton (Tennessee), the 1998 NFF Draddy Trophy recipient, as Super Bowl MVP, becoming the first sibling quarterbacks to lead their respective teams to Super Bowl crowns and to earn MVP laurels. Combined with patriarch Archie (Ole Miss), the three NFL standouts have played 27 NFL seasons, passed for 76,000-plus yards and 518 career touchdowns - the most prolific QB family in National Football League record books.
During the pre-game ceremonies, Jason Taylor (Akron) of the Miami Dolphins received the NFL Walter Payton Award for community service and on-field talent. The award memorializes College and Pro Hall of Famer Walter Payton (Jackson State), who was noted for his off- field service to communities and gridiron sportsmanship.
College Football Hall of Famer Darrell Green (Texas A&I) highlighted this year's Pro Football Hall of Fame class, announced Feb. 2 in Phoenix. Green is the 148th inductee into both the NFF College Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Joining Green in the six-member class are DE Fred Dean (Louisiana Tech), 2007 College Football Hall of Fame candidate WR Art Monk (Syracuse), CB Emmitt Thomas (Bishop College, Texas), LB Andre Tippett (Iowa) and OT Gary Zimmerman (Oregon).
Including the Class of 2008, there are 247 inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The official enshrinement ceremony will take place at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, on Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. ET and will be televised live by both ESPN and the NFL Network.
The 1961 NFF Gold Medal presented to 35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy is among a number of football-related memorabilia on display in February at the JFK Library's "Shaping Up America: JFK, Sports and the Call to Physical Fitness" exhibit. Also of interest is a football given to the President by Navy's 1962 football team with autographs from, among others, NFF College Hall of Famer and 2007 Gold Medal co-recipient Roger Staubach.
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame has developed a long-term partnership with Sprinturf, a leading U.S. provider of synthetic turf systems. Sprinturf recently installed synthetic turf in the Hall of Fame Stadium Theater viewing area, making the overall look of the field more realistic. The Stadium Theater features a 26-by-15 foot main screen allowing fans to view the Hall's "Game Day" presentation, along with sporting events, movies, presentations, gaming tournaments, and more.
Sprinturf also is the official and exclusive synthetic turf provider for the College Hall of Fame 45-yard Gridiron Plaza. The plaza is the location for the 2008 Enshrinement Festival's annual Youth Football Clinic and the Enshrinee Flag Football game on July 19 in South Bend. Sprinturf served as the presenting sponsor for the NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon last December with President and CEO Stanley H. Greene delivering the official welcome and presenting the Chapter Leader Awards.
Over 250 people attended the NFF Touchdown Club of Houston Chapter's third annual Sportsmanship Award Luncheon in conjunction with the Texas Association of Sports Officials Houston Chapter. Guest speaker for the event was Joe DeLamielleure of Michigan State and a member of the "Electric Company" with the Buffalo Bills.
Anthony Munoz will present the Anthony Munoz Foundation Old Spice Scholar-Athletes of the Year Awards at the NFF Greater Cincinnati Chapter Scholar-Athlete Banquet on Thursday, Feb. 21, in Cincinnati. Tickets for the banquet are available by contacting Julie Gandert at (513) 333-0990 or Ron Woyan at (513) 474-7074. The awards recognize the top high school linemen in the Tri-State area (Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia) for their athletic achievements, academic success and community involvement.
Lamar (Texas) students voted overwhelmingly in support of a special fee that will assist in funding the return of the Cardinal football program. With the affirmation from the students in hand, the school's president Jimmy Simmons will seek approval from the TSUS Board of Regents on Feb. 22. The Cardinals tentatively plan to start Southland Conference play in 2010... Florida State will play for the second year in succession at Jacksonville (Fla.) Municipal Stadium. The Seminoles will face Colorado on Sept. 27, 2008... Wisconsin increased its home attendance average from 81,368 in 2006 to 81,747 last autumn for 15th place among NCAA FBS members... Arkansas State's new mascot committee has recommended Wolves as the new athletics nickname for 2008-09... Numerous universities athletics departments are offering post-signing events Wednesday to celebrate national letter-of-intent signing day for 2008 football... Illinois head coach Ron Zook donated the $70,000 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year stipend to five favorite charities and the Illinois Alumni Association... The National Association of Athletics Compliance Coordinators is changing its name to the National Association for Athletics Compliance (NAAC) and has revealed a new logo... Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe saluted retired Arkansas director of athletics Frank Broyles for his 50-year career at UA and for bringing in over $3 billion in revenue for Razorbacks athletics.
The Rutgers Board of Governors officially approved a $102 million football stadium expansion plan... The South Dakota House Appropriations Committee has approved a $6 million student- athletes development center at South Dakota State... Ashland (Ohio) has launched fundraising efforts and unveiled renderings of a new, 7,000-seat football stadium and athletics complex... Akron has started land clearing and other preparations for the $61.6 million InfoCision Stadium - Summa Field complex... Iowa is allotting $25 million for facelifts to several athletics venues... Jacksonville State will expand Paul Snow Stadium in Jacksonville, Ala., to 21,000 seats.
Cincinnati's Brian Kelly has received a new, five-year contract... South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier will receive a signing and longevity bonus if he remains with the Gamecocks through the 2011 season... Jon Tenuta has become assistant head coach for defense at Notre Dame... Jim McElwain was named offensive coordinator at Alabama... Ed Donatelli has accepted the Washington defensive coordinator's post... Rick Minter has been hired as defensive coordinator at Marshall... Tom Rossley is the new assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach at Texas A&M... Florida State named Randy Spetman as its new director of athletics... Mark Farley has been selected as interim AD at Northern Iowa.
Rivals.com named Missouri assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Dave Christensen as 2007 National Offensive Coordinator of the Year... Ole Miss Chancellor Dr. Robert C. Khayat is the recipient of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl's Distinguished Citizen Award... John Humenik has been selected as the first executive director of College Sports Information Directors of America. The former SID at Princeton, Michigan and Florida and CoSIDA Hall of Fame member has been instrumental in the CoSIDA ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America and most recently was acquisitions director for Sports Publishing, LLC, of Champaign, Ill.
FSN Southwest is conducting month-long programming to commemorate Black History Month in February. Some of the features include a historical look at the Prairie View Interscholastic League, which governed athletics at black public high schools in Texas during segregation days, showcasing features on SMU All-America RB Jerry LeVias (the first African-American scholarship student-athlete in the Southwest Conference), and the 1951 San Francisco Dons team's stand against forcing two African- American players to remain at home after the Dons were invited to bowls, among others... ESPNU will begin expanded football signing day coverage at noon (EST) Wednesday while The Big Ten Network will provide reports and features on the big day throughout the morning and evening hours. CSTV will also cover the day's events.
Larry Smith, 68, former head coach at Tulane, Arizona, Southern California, and Missouri died of leukemia in Tucson, Ariz., last week. He was very active in the NFF Southern Arizona Chapter before his passing and organized the chapter's Coaching Academy function from 2003-07... Tom Price, 81, a NFF Columbia, S.C., Chapter member and former sports information director at South Carolina, died last Friday... Easter Heathman, 80, the longtime Knute Rockne grave caretaker and Kansas tour guide (where Rockne's plane crashed in 1931) died on Jan. 28.
Monday, February 04, 2008
College Football weekly news and notes
-Courtesy of the National Football Foundation
Former NFF Scholar-Athlete Manning Leads Giants to Super Bowl Victory
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