**PRENTICE GAUTT NAMED 2005 OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO AMATEUR FOOTBALL

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, Inc.

**PRENTICE GAUTT NAMED 2005 OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO AMATEUR FOOTBALL
AWARDEE**

MORRISTOWN, N.J., May 5, 2005 - Jon F. Hanson, Chairman of The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF), announced that the late Prentice Gautt has been selected to receive the 2005 Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award.

Presented annually, this prestigious award provides national recognition to an individual whose efforts and activities in support of the Foundation and its goals have been local in nature. It also applies to individuals who have made significant contributions to the game of football either to the manner in which it's played and coached, or to the manner in which it's
enjoyed by spectators.

"A true pioneer in his day, Prentice showed remarkable will and determination, which allowed him to break the color barrier at Oklahoma,"
said Hanson. "As Jackie Robinson did for baseball, Prentice left a civil rights impression on the school and sport of football that will never be forgotten."

A Sooner legend and leading intercollegiate athletics administrator, Prentice Gautt began his athletics career as a pioneer in breaking Oklahoma racial barriers, and his legacy will endure through his many accomplishments and several academic programs named in his honor. After playing football at Oklahoma City's Douglass High School in 1955 and becoming the first black to play in the All-State game (where he earned MVP honors), he embarked on his dream of carrying the ball for College Football Hall of Fame Coach Bud Wilkinson as Oklahoma's first black athlete.

Gautt played on OU's 1956 freshman team and then as a starter from 1957-59, leading the Sooners to a 27-5 record during those three years. His individual on-field accomplishments included being named an All-Big Eight running back in 1958 and '59 and most valuable player in OU's 1959 Orange Bowl victory over Syracuse. Off the field, Gautt endured many of the same ordeals suffered by Jackie Robinson and the other racial pioneers of the day.

The presentation will be made at the Foundation's Annual Awards Luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City on Tuesday, December 6, 2005.
The Luncheon will also feature the presentation of the NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete Awards, the Outstanding Football Official Award, the John L. Toner Award and Chapter Leadership Awards.

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO AMATEUR FOOTBALL AWARD

Presented annually, this prestigious award provides national recognition to an individual whose efforts and activities in support of the Foundation and its goals have been local in nature. It also applies to individuals who have made significant contributions to the game of football either to the manner in which it's played and coached, or to the manner in which it's enjoyed by spectators.

PRENTICE GAUTT
2005 Recipient

Prentice Gautt, a Sooner legend and a leading intercollegiate athletics administrator, began his athletics career as a pioneer in breaking Oklahoma racial barriers, and his legacy will endure through his many accomplishments and several academic programs named in his honor.

After playing football at Oklahoma City's Douglass High School in 1955 and becoming the first black to play in the All-State game (where he earned MVP honors), he embarked on his dream of carrying the ball for College Football Hall of Fame coach Bud Wilkinson as Oklahoma's first black athlete.

His entry to OU required the tenacity that Gautt would display throughout his entire life. Encouraged to attend but denied a scholarship, a group of black doctors offered their financial support. Gautt would go on to earn his athletic scholarship as well as Academic All-America honors.

Gautt played on OU's 1956 freshman team and then as a starter from 1957-59, leading the Sooners to a 27-5 record during those three years. His individual on-field accomplishments included being named an All-Big Eight running back in 1958 and '59 and most valuable player in OU's 1959 Orange Bowl victory over Syracuse. Off the field, Gautt endured many of the same ordeals suffered by Jackie Robinson and the other racial pioneers of the day.

After one year with the Cleveland Browns and six with the St. Louis Cardinals in the NFL, Gautt coached football at Missouri while earning his Ph.D. in psychology. He then started on his career in athletics administration, first as an assistant commissioner for the Big Eight Conference and most recently as a special assistant to the commissioner of the Big-12 Conference.

Gautt died suddenly on March 17, 2005 of flu-like symptoms at the age of 67.

"Prentice Gautt was truly a great person, and he will be remembered as one of the most outstanding graduates in the history of the University of Oklahoma," OU President David Boren told the Associated Press at the time of Gautt's passing. "His moral courage helped to bring racial justice, not only to our state and to intercollegiate athletics, but also to our entire nation."

His lifelong interest in student-athletes led him to sit on several NCAA committees while directing the Big-12 life skills program, and he was named the NCAA Secretary/Treasurer in 1995. The OU academic center for student-athletes is named "The Prentice Gautt Academic Center," and in 1996 the Big-12 began the Dr. Prentice Gautt Scholarship program, which provides post-graduate scholarships for student-athletes.


With 119 chapters and over 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in America's young people.
NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, The NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College (Mass.), the NFL-NFF Coaching Academy, and annual scholarships of nearly $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes.


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