The National Football Foundation’s Chapter Network The National Football Foundation’sPresented by Chapter Network Presented by March 4, 2008 - Vol. 4, Issue 3 Building Leaders Through Football Colorado Chapter Celebrates 15th Banquet ore than 250 people attended the 15th Colorado Chapter Mbanquet on Feb. 18 at the Denver West Marriott behind the leadership of newly named Chapter President Dermot Coll and Executive Director Keith Jensen. Jon Major, a linebacker at Ponderosa HS, and Jack Elway, the son of College and Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway, headlined the impressive group of 12 scholar-athletes. Selected as the Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year and on six high school All-America teams, Major signed a letter of intent with the Buffa- loes. Elway, a standout quarterback at Cherry Creek HS, is headed to Arizona State. John Wristen, the new coach at CSU-Pueblo, served as A proud dad, John Elway, stands the keynote speaker as football returns to his school after a 22-year with his son Jack, a 2008 Colorado hiatus while Air Force coach Troy Calhoun also attended. Chapter Scholar-Athlete. Three collegiate stars earned honors: Jordon Dizon, De- fensive and Overall Player of the Year from Colorado; Chad Hall, Offensive Player of the Year from Air Force; and Jared Keating, Special Teams Player of the Year from Mesa State. Joe Ramunno, the Mesa State coach, claimed Coach of the Year honors. Recognition also included: Gaspar Perricone with the John Adams Officiating Award; former Colorado State coachSonny Lubick with the Joe Kearney Service Award; and Billy Richardson with The Colorado Crush Youth Football Award. In recognition of his outstanding work with at-risk student-athletes and the NFF’s Play It Smart program, Jim Turner, the former NFL kicker, became Former Denver Broncos: Jim Turner, John Elway & Steve Sewell. the inaugural recipient of an award named in his honor. ■ The 2008 Colorado Chapter Scholar-Athletes www.footballfoundation.org Page 1 March 4, 2008 The National Football Foundation’s Chapter Network Presented by Junior High School Scholar-Athletes Receive an Early Message from the Miss-Lou Chapter oasting an impressive combined 3.7 GPA, Bthe seven high school scholar-athletes of the Miss-Lou Chapter claimed a total of $10,000 in scholarships at the group’s 27th annual banquet on Feb. 21. More than 200 people attended the event in Natchez, Miss. The seven scholar-athletes included: Lee Guedon, Adams County Christian School; Jesse Morrison, Cathedral High School; Kendrick Har- ris, Ferriday High School; Seth Swilley, Hunting- ton High School; Kendall Logan, Natchez High School; Parker Brumfield, Trinity High School; and Jeremy Washington, Vidalia High School. As part of a unique initiative to inspire younger play- ers to develop good habits, the chapter also hon- ored seven junior high student-athletes at the event. Alcorn State coach Ernest Jones deliv- 2008 Miss-Lou Chapter Scholar-Athletes Lee Gue- ered a motivational speech as the event’s keynote don (Left) and Kendrick Harris (right) on the field. speaker. Jerry Roberts and Barr Brown, two local football supporters who died in a 2006 plane crash, posthumously recieved the chapter’s Con- tribution to Amateur Football Award and Distin- guished American Award, respectively. Roberts was a member of the Concordia Parish School Board, and Brown played for LSU in the late 70’s before becoming a prominent businessman. With the increasing success of the Annual Joe Fortunato Celebrity Golf Tournament, the chapter has increased its scholarship awards sig- nificantly in recent years. Joe, his wife Catherine and chapter president Terry Estes continue as the Left: Alcorn State coach Ernest Jones presents driving force behind the chapter. Photos Courtesy Parker Brumfield of Trinity HS the chapter’s top of the Natchez Democrat and Marcus Frazier. ■ award. Right: Joe and Catherine Fortunato. The Miss-Lou Chapter honors both middle school scholar-athletes (left) and high school scholar-ath- letes (right) as a way of inspiring the younger players to develop good habits early. www.footballfoundation.org Page 2 March 4, 2008 The National Football Foundation’s Chapter Network Presented by Central Indiana Chapter Selects 16 from 142 Schools ore than 350 people turned out to celebrate football Mat The Central Indiana Chapter’s 14th annual ban- quet, which was held at the Indianapolis Colts Complex and Pavilion on Feb. 24. With an average 3.7 GPA, 16 high school schol- ar-athletes, who were selected from candidates at 142 schools, collected a total of $6,000 in scholarships. Iowa, Ball State, Indiana State, Cornell, and Butler top the list of schools where the chapter’s scholar-athletes will play Indiana coach Bill Lynch and Jane Hoeppner, football in the fall. the wife of the late Coach Terry Hoeppner. The emotional highlight of the evening came when Jane Hoeppner, wife of the late Terry Hoeppner and former head football coach at the Indiana University, took the podium, introducing current Hoosier coach Bill Lynch, who brought tears to everybody’s eyes with mov- ing remarks about his predecessor. Three additional scholar-athletes, including one female, were honored with special recognition awards. NFLPA representative Andre Collins presented the State NFLPA’s Andre Collins, DePauw coach Nick of Indiana’s top male and female scholar-athlete awards, Mourouzis, former Colt Barry Krause, scholar- an annual tradition at the chapter’s banquet. Recently athlete Terrae Hall, Colts Youth Commissioner retired Hanover College coach Wayne Perry received Mike Prior and Colts executive Bill Brooks. the chapter’s Distinguished American Award as the win- ningest coach in Indiana collegiate football history. The Colts continued their role as event host and lead sponsor with several front office personnel mak- ing key contributions, including Bob Terpening, Bill Brooks, Mike Prior, Scott Davis and former player Barry Krause. Led by Executive Director Geoff Bradley and President Carl Barzilauskas, Central Indiana continues to Franklin College coach Mike Leonard (left) set the standard for other chapters with key support from presents the Distinguished American Award to members like Bob Birge and Chris Bomei. ■ Hanover College coach Wayne Perry. www.footballfoundation.org Page 3 March 4, 2008 The National Football Foundation’s Chapter Network Presented by Cory Farris Terry Jacobs Dave Foley Marvin Lewis Fred Craig (No. 7) Cincinnati Chapter Celebrates 41st Banquet espite brutal weather, 350 people turned out for 41st DGreater Cincinnati Chapter Annual Banquet, cele- brating 13 high school and four collegiate scholar-athletes from Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky. The coaching staffs of Cincinnati, Miami (Ohio), the College of Mount St. Joseph and Thomas More Col- lege came to honor their top scholar-athletes while the chapter awarded each of the 13 high school honorees with $1,000 scholarships. Dave Foley, a 1965 Cincinnati Chapter scholar- athlete and subsequently a 1968 NFF National Scholar- Athlete from Ohio State, provided the keynote address, connecting his experiences as the captain of Woody Hayes’ 1968 national championship team with life after Chapter President Steve Bailey presents a schol- football. ar-athlete plaque to St. Xavier’s Fred Craig. St. Xavier’s Fred Craig and Boone County’s Cory Farris won the “That’s My Boy” awards, which are annually presented to the top high school scholar-athlete on each side of the Ohio River. Craig, the Ohio win- ner and an All-America linebacker will play football at Stanford while Farris, the Kentucky recipient, will play baseball for the Kentucky Wildcats. For the first time in chapter history, a female ac- cepted the Contribution to Amateur Football Award with Sister Francis Marie Thikill, the retiring president of the College of Mount St. Joseph, accepting the award for her role in creating a football program at her school in 1989. Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis pre- sented his Foundation’s Coach of the Year Award while Bengals legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz’s organization bestowed its Offensive and Defen- sive Lineman of the Year Awards at the event. The chapter boasts a strong board of directors, in- cluding chapter president Steve Bailey, dinner chairman Ron Woyan and chapter chairman Terry Jacobs, who also sits on the national board and gave an update on the organization’s initiatives throughout the country. ■ www.footballfoundation.org Page 4 March 4, 2008 The National Football Foundation’s Chapter Network Presented by Photos Border-to-Border and Coast-to-Coast The Greater Atlanta Chapter annually awards $48,000, more than any chapter in the nation with Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr signs an autograph key support from the Chick-fil-A Bowl. L-R: Hall for 2008 Michigan Chapter Scholar-Athletes of Famer Tommy Nobis, Chapter President Dennis Fred Smith, an end from Detroit Southeastern Caniglia, 2008 top chapter scholar-athlete Charles HS (left) and Isaac Harper, a running back from Long & Justin Gallagher of Gallagher Electric. East Lansing HS (center). Nassau Chapter President Len Genova (left) and Central Indiana Chapter scholar-athletes Colton Chapter VP Frank Luisi (right) present Mass- Cooper (Danville H.S.) & Justin Wright (Craw- apequa Mustangs Commissioner Mike Stackpole fordsville H.S.) in front of Peyton Manning’s lock- with the Frank Luisi Contribution to Youth Foot- er during the honorees tour of the Colts facility. ball Football for his work on Long Island. The Michigan Chapter Dream Team www.footballfoundation.org Page 5 March 4, 2008 The National Football Foundation’s Chapter Network Presented by Chapter Play-By-Play Chapter Scholar-Athlete Eli Manning claimed MVP honors at Super Bowl XLII on Feb. 3, 2008. He was honored by the All-State Sugar Bowl Chapter in 1999… For the second consecutive year, the 38 high school scholar-athletes from the Toledo Chapter plan to visit patients at the Toledo Children’s Hospital prior to the chapter’s March 10 banquet..