Tuesday, November 22, 2005

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame 48th Annual Awards Dinner and Events

December 6, 2005
The Waldorf-Astoria in New York City
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. media reception in the Louis XVI Suite 11:30 a.m. NFF Awards Luncheon at the Starlight Roof Hall 4:30 p.m. photo session in the Louis XVI Suite 6:30 p.m. NFF Awards Dinner in the Grand Ballroom Previous notification is required to cover an event.
Phone and radio interviews available, and satellite coverage will be provided.

Featuring:

GOLD MEDAL
Jon F. Hanson

DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN AWARD
Hon. Alan C. Page

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
PLAYERS
Cornelius Bennett, Alabama
Tom Curtis, Michigan
Anthony Davis, Southern California
Keith Dorney, Penn State
Jim Houston, Ohio State
John Huarte, Notre Dame
Roosevelt Leaks, Texas
Mark May, Pittsburgh
Joe Washington, Oklahoma
Paul Wiggin, Stanford
David Williams, Illinois

COACHES
Pat Dye – East Carolina, Wyoming, Auburn Don Nehlen – Bowling Green, West Virginia

2005 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD WINNERS AND DRADDY FINALISTS Josh Betts, Miami University (OH) Cory Cangelosi, Central Arkansas Jose David Castillo, Florida State Reed Doughty, Northern Colorado Chris Edwards, Washington & Jefferson Tyler Emmert, Carroll College (MT) Greg Eslinger, Minnesota Nick Hartigan, Brown Matt Hawn, Saint John’s (MN) Ryan Koch, St. Cloud State Grayling Love, Arizona State Santo Maimone, Case Western Garrett Michael Mills, Tulsa Rudy Niswanger, Louisiana State DeMeco Ryans, Alabama Bradley Smith, Missouri

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO AMATEUR FOOTBALL AWARD Prentice Gautt (posthumously), University of Oklahoma

JOHN L. TONER AWARD
Jack Lengyel, US Naval Academy

OUTSTANDING COLLEGE FOOTBALL OFFICIAL AWARDS Michael Orlich (posthumously), Pacific Coast, Big Sky, Big West Verle Sorgen, Pacific-10

2005 NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLAR-ATHLETES Thomas Bemenderfer, Midwest Region Brandon Chase Fisher, South Region Ramsey R. Lafayette, East Region David M. Miller, West Region

2005 CHAPTER LEADERSHIP HONOREES
Carl Barzilauskas Midwest Region
Emo DiNitto, East Region
Walt Hunt, West Region
Tony Sardisco, South Region

LIVE SATELLITE AND CLEAN FEED AVAILABLE of ceremonies from 7:30 p.m. to
10:15 p.m. at IA 6 (digital KU) Transponder 3E. Downlink is: 11788 V. Data
Rate: 5.500000. Symbol Rate: 3.978723. FEC: 3/4 or access through a router via a fiber at Waterfront (Ascent Media) Communications in NYC (Circuit #1847). Taped satellite feed of morning press conference available from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET at AMC3K/12 (KU analog); downlink is 11940 Vertical Down. You may also contact your news service (ABC NewsOne; NBC NewsChannel; CBS Newspath; Sports News Service, CNN Newsource, Fox Feed, etc.) to request specific footage. Permission is granted for use for news purposes only.

CONTACT:
Philip Marwill
Director of Communications
The National Football Foundation &
College Hall of Fame, Inc.
22 Maple Avenue
Morristown, NJ 07960-5215
Work: 800-486-1865, ext. 18
www.footballfoundation.org

THREE FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR DAVEY O’BRIEN NATIONAL QUARTERBACK AWARDTM

FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 22, 2005 – The Davey O’Brien Foundation announced three finalists for the 2005 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback AwardTM, presented annually to the nation’s best college quarterback. They are, in alphabetical order: Matt Leinart, Sr., University of Southern California; Brady Quinn, Jr., University of Notre Dame; and Vince Young, Jr., University of Texas. The three finalists were selected by the O’Brien Selection Committee, a nationwide panel of sportswriters and commentators, as well as former O’Brien winners. The committee will vote later this month to determine the winner.

The winner of the 2005 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback AwardTM will be announced on the Home Depot College Football Awards Show at 7:00 p.m. (EST) on Thursday, Dec. 8. The show will air live on ESPN from the Atlantic Dance Hall on The Boardwalk at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The winner will be honored Feb. 20, 2006, at the 29th annual Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner at The Fort Worth Club in downtown Fort Worth. Len Dawson, recipient of the 2005 Davey O’Brien Legends Award, and the O’Brien High School Scholarship Award winner also will be honored that night. Air transportation is provided by American Airlines, the official airline of the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback AwardTM.

In addition to Leinart, Quinn and Young, the other semifinalists included: Brett Basanez, Northwestern; Brian Brohm, Louisville; Brodie Croyle, Alabama; Jay Cutler, Vanderbilt; Cody Hodges, Texas Tech; Omar Jacobs, Bowling Green; Drew Olson, UCLA; Paul Pinegar, Fresno State; Michael Robinson, Penn State; Brad Smith, Missouri; Drew Stanton, Michigan State; and Marcus Vick, Virginia Tech.

The Davey O’Brien Foundation was established in 1977 to present the O’Brien Memorial Trophy, recognizing annually the outstanding college football player in the five southwestern states of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. In 1981, the award was redirected to be national in scope but limited to quarterback, the favorite position of the award’s namesake, Davey O’Brien. O’Brien led the TCU Horned Frogs to the 1938 national championship and was the first player to win the Heisman, Walter Camp and Maxwell Awards in one season. A high school scholarship program began in 1986, awarding annually a $20,000 college scholarship to an outstanding senior student-athlete in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Since 1977 the Davey O’Brien Foundation has awarded over $248,000 to the various O’Brien winners’ universities and more than $380,000 to deserving high school students.

www.daveyobrien.com.