COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Chapter of The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame will host the 53rd annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet on Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. at the Ohio Union on the Campus of The Ohio State University.
2013 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Orlando Pace will receive the Ohio Gold Award, the highest honor given by the organization, for contributions to amateur football. Pace is the most recent inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame from Ohio State. Previous recipients of the Ohio Gold Award include Eddie George, Archie Griffin, Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce, John Cooper, Gene Smith, Chris Spielman, Ann Hayes, Jim Tressel, John Hicks and Dr. E. Gordon Gee.
Awards will be presented to the top high school and college football scholar-athletes in central Ohio. Fourteen high school scholar-athletes will be presented with John H. McConnell and Worthington Industries Foundation Scholarships and one will be recognized with the Maggied-Romanoff Award as the most outstanding scholar-athlete of the group. College scholar-athletes will come from Ohio State, Ohio Wesleyan, Otterbein, Capital, Denison, Ohio Dominican and Kenyon. One of these young men will be awarded a post-graduate scholarship.
The annual High School Coaches Award will be presented to Jeff Gafford, who is currently an assistant football coach at Capital University. He will be recognized for an outstanding career at Worthington Kilbourne and Marysville.
The Tyson Gentry Courage Award will be given to Grant Reed. Grant is the young man that named his cancer “Michigan” and has become known around the country for his successful fight against his disease.
The NFF and College Hall of Fame is a member-supported non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the future of amateur football at local, state and national levels. The foundation with its chapters annually awards nearly $1 million in scholarships to over 3,000 high school and college student athletes for continuing education. Ohio State has 20 National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete-Award winners, including Craig Krenzel (2003), Ahmed Plummer (1999), Greg Bellisari (1996), Bobby Hoying (1995), Joey Galloway (1994) and Brian Robiskie (2008).
“It’s a wonderful organization and event,” said former Buckeye running back John Wooldridge, President of the Columbus Chapter. “Coach (Woody) Hayes always preached about ‘paying forward.’ For those who played or love college football, this is a great way to support some of the great young people in our local high school and college community. The Foundation and it scholarships help mold the leaders of tomorrow through education and football.”
Individual tickets are $90 each and tables of 10 can be purchased for $900. Hall of Fame Sponsor tables (limited) are available for $2,500. Hall of Fame sponsorship includes a private reception, gift and photo opportunity with Orlando Pace. There will be silent and live auction items at the event. To purchase tickets, please call (614) 764-1629 or email DLogan34@aol.com.
