National Football Foundation Chalk Talk

NFF News

With more than $300,000 in scholarships and 15 all- expense paid trips to New York City at stake, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) is set to announce Wednesday more than 160 semifinalists for college football's most prestigious academic honor - The 2008 Draddy Trophy presented, by HealthSouth.

One of college football's most sought after and competitive awards, the Draddy Trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best in the country for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary community leadership. From the 160- plus candidates from all divisions of play creating the pool of semifinalists, the NFF Awards Committee will select the 15 finalists for the award, which will be announced on Oct. 23. Each of the Draddy Trophy finalists will win a $18,000 NFF National Scholar- Athlete Award for his post-graduate education.

NFF Chairman Archie Manning will be the keynote speaker for the Murphy Enterprise Center's 2008 Leadership Luncheon at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas on Friday, Nov. 14.

To become a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, please contact NFF Director of Special Projects Hillary Jeffries at 800-486-1865 or via email at hjeffries@footballfoundation.com.

Two-Minute Drill

College Football Hall of Famers Doug Flutie, Bob Griese, Lou Holtz, Mark May, and Andre Ware are among the broadcast teams for ABC Sports and ESPN football this autumn... Hall of Famer and 2007 NFF Gold Medal co-recipient Roger Staubach was honored for his efforts in the construction of Pope John Paul II High School Stadium in Plano, Texas, last week. The Navy great performed the ceremonial coin toss as John Paul II faced Trinity Christian-Addison last Friday night... Georgia broadcasting legend Larry Munson officially retired from the Bulldogs' radio booth... SEC schools participated in the "Together We Can" food drive collected 40,000 pounds of food for underserved families in the region during 12-day activities. For every yard gained by both teams in the Raycom SEC Game of the Week, Regions Bank will donate a new tree to the Arbor Day Foundation's work to reforest areas in the southeastern part of the country... Duke head coach David Cutcliffe entertained students and faculty at "Chat With Coach Cut" activities on the Durham, N.C., campus last week... Tulane hosted "Bring Your 'A' Game - Celebrating Education in New Orleans," as the Green Wave took on SMU at the Superdome... Navy and UNLV have scheduled a first-ever four-game series from 2014-17. Navy also has been designated as one of the teams represented in the 2010 San Diego County Poinsettia Bowl pending eligiblity after the '10 regular campaign... NCAA Football has launched a special link via NCAAFootball.com to download schedules for all schools... Thom Gossom, Jr. , the first African- American athlete to graduate from Auburn, recently released his memoir "Walk On," which depicts his struggles on and off the football field in the 1970s... Mike Flynt, who started playing linebacker for Sul Ross State (Texas) at age 59, released his new book "The Senior" detailing his experiences as the oldest contributing member of a college football team in NCAA history... HBO Sports has opened production on "Breaking the Huddle: The Integration of College Football," noting integration of college football in the South and the Civil Rights movement of the '60s. It will debut on Dec. 16. The program uses extensive research from the College Football Hall of Fame archives and culminates with the famed Southern California- Alabama of Sept. 1970. ESPN's acclaimed primetime E60 newsmagazine program Tuesday at 7 p.m. (EDT) features Hawai'i graduate assistant coach Brian Kajiyama and his courage of fighting through a cerebral palsy affliction since birth... The Big Ten Network will premiere Hail to the Victors: Greatest Stories of Michigan Football, a new show which traces the lineage of the storied program, following the Michigan-Toledo game on Oct. 11. Narrated by Thom Brennaman, Hail to the Victors will examine some of the most successful seasons of Michigan football with archived interview footage with legendary coach Bo Schembechler.

Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium will honor American Indian tribes with the new Minnesotal Tribal Nations Plaza. An 18-foot sky marker for each of the state's 11 tribal nations will be placed outside the main gate of the new stadium... Cal recently kicked off a $250 million football fundraising drive, pushing the purchase of premium seats at its new stadium... North Texas students will vote Oct. 13-17 on an expanded fee structure to help finance a new on-campus stadium for the Eagles... Dick Jacobson of Iowa State has contributed $5 million to ISU - most of the gift to help revamp Jack Trice Stadium... Smithville Communications has made a $250,000 donation to Indiana athletics... Ellen and Dr. Brent Feller have made a $500,000 contribution for Iowa athletics facilities... Sacramento State has received a $50,000 endowed scholarship from the family of the late Hank Elespuru... Arkansas State Athletics received its largest single donation from Charles Luter for improvements to its athletic academic facility.

College Football Hall of Famer Joe Theismann was recently named the 2008 Davey O'Brien Legends Award recipient in recognition of his life-long contributions to football. Theismann will be presented with the award at the 32nd Annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner on Feb. 16, 2009, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas... Miami (Fla.) added five former standouts to its Football Ring of Honor: RB Edgerrin James, QB Jim Kelly, DT Cortez Kennedy, C Jim Otto and QB Gino Torretta... R. C. Slocum, Texas A&M's winningest football coach, was inducted into the schools's athletic hall of fame... College Football Hall of Famer John Gagliardi (St. John's, Minn.) was named the 2009 recipient of AFCA's Amos Alonzo Stagg Award... Beth Holtz, wife of former Notre Dame football coach and 2008 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Lou Holtz, has been awarded an honorary monogram by the Notre Dame Monogram Club. Coach and Mrs. Holtz founded the Lou and Beth Holtz Charitable Foundation in 1998 to help support disadvantaged persons of all ages and homeless shelters in South Bend, Ind., and Columbia, S.C.... DB Ron Allen is the most recent inductee into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame... Baylor's 2008 Hall of Fame class includes football great Ray Crockett and former director of athletics Tom Stanton, who spearheaded the fundraising efforts for the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Southwest Conference wing... Kansas State inducted retired head coach Bill Snyder and university president Jon Wefald into its Athletics Hall of Fame as key participants in the "Miracle in Manhattan" turnaround of the Wildcats' football program... New Mexico State added Pervis Atkins, Denvis Manns and Walt Williams to its Aggie Football Legends Ring of Honor... The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation released its "Watch List" for its 2008 Dodd Trophy.

Connecticut and IMG College have signed a multi-year year agreement for broadcast and marketing rights... Arkansas has extended its corporate partnership with Collegiate Licensing Co. for five years.

Charles Walemon "Cotton" Price, 90, quarterback and captain of the 1939 national champion Texas A&M squad, died last Wednesday. The 1937-39 letterman paced the '39 squad to a 11-0 record... Dick Lynch, 72, 41- year member of the New York Giants' radio broadcasting crew and a standout at Notre Dame and in the NFL, died last week... Former San Jose State HB and decorated World War II pilot Bert Robinson, 86, passed away... Wally Hilgenberg, a standout lineman at Iowa, passed away at 66... Plato Gus Andros, all- conference guard for the 1946 Oklahoma team, died at 86.


Key NFF Dates

Oct. 19: First Release of 2008 BCS Standings - Irving, Texas
Dec. 9: NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria - New York, N.Y.
Jan. 5, 2009: National Hall of Fame Salute at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Glendale, Az.
Jan. 9, 2009: Presentation of MacArthur Trophy to BCS champion - Miami, Fla.

2009 BCS Schedule

Jan. 1: Rose Bowl presented by Citi - Pasadena, Calif., ABC
Jan. 1: FedEx Orange Bowl - Miami, Fla., Fox
Jan. 2: Allstate Sugar Bowl - New Orleans, La., Fox
Jan. 5: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Glendale, Ariz., Fox
Jan. 8: FedEx BCS National Championship Game - Miami, Fla., Fox