IRVING, Texas (May 27, 2014) – The National Football Foundation (NFF) announced today that Frank Beckmann, who recently retired as the University of Michigan play-by-play announcer on the Michigan IMG Radio Network, will be the 2014 recipient of the NFF Chris Schenkel Award. Presented annually since 1996, the award recognizes individuals that have had long, distinguished careers broadcasting college football with direct ties to a specific university.

“Frank Beckmann has had an exceptional broadcasting career with the Wolverines, spanning more than thirty years, and during that time, his voice has become synonymous with one of the greatest college football traditions in the country,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “We are pleased to honor Frank Beckmann with the 2014 NFF Chris Schenkel Award as a tribute to all of his accomplishments.”

Beckmann completed 33 years as the play-by-play voice of Michigan football this fall (1981-2013), and he represents only the second individual – Bob Ufer – to handle the duties for the flagship broadcast of Michigan football in the previous 65 years. Beckmann began calling play-by-play for the Wolverines in 1981. He has hosted a daily weekday talk show on WJR-AM in Detroit since 2004.

A Michigan native, Beckmann took his first radio job in 1969 at an AM station in Alpena, working as a one-man news staff. Six months later he landed at WPON-AM in Pontiac, where he did play-by-play for the Midwest Football League’s Pontiac Arrows.

After stints at WKNR-AM in Dearborn, WDRQ-FM and Channel 2, Beckmann joined the WJR news staff in 1972. As news reporter he specialized in the kind of hard-hitting reporting that won him numerous awards, including the National Headliner. He also received a citation for “Best Coverage of a Single News Event” during the Hoffa Disappearance.

Three years after joining the news team, Beckmann switched to the WJR sports staff. He would become sports director, lead announcer for the Detroit Lions, and in 1981, he succeeded Bob Ufer as the play-by-play announcer for University of Michigan football.

A member of the state of Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, Beckmann has claimed numerous awards for his talents and achievements. The Associated Press and United Press International named him “Top Michigan Sportscaster,” and the National Association of Sportscasters voted him “Michigan's Sportscaster of the Year.” In 2003, the Letterwinners M Club honored him as a “Honorary ‘M’ Man.”

During his three-decade career in Ann Arbor, Beckmann has covered some of Michigan’s greatest coaches and student-athletes, including College Football Hall of Fame coaches Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr, Hall of Fame players Anthony Carter and Desmond Howard and NFF National Scholar-Athletes Norman Betts, Brian Griese, Stefan Humphries, Chris Hutchinson and Rob Renes. His time at Michigan has included the 1997 national championship, 12 Big Ten championships, two Heisman Trophy winners and countless legendary calls.

Beckmann becomes the first-ever recipient of the award from a state of Michigan school, and he represents only the fourth recipient with ties to the Big Ten Conference, joining broadcasters Ray Christensen (2000, Minnesota), Bob Brooks (2002, Iowa) and Johnny Holliday (2006, Maryland).

Beckmann will accept the Schenkel Award Dec. 9 at the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner alongside the yet-to-be-announced recipients of the other NFF Major Awards, including the NFF Gold Medal, the NFF Distinguished American Award, The NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award, and the NFF John L. Toner Award for excellence in athletics administration. The event will take place at the historic Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

In addition to the presentation of the NFF Major Awards, the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner will provide the stage for the induction of the 2014 College Football Hall of Fame Class; the presentation of the 2014 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards; and the bestowing of the 25^th NFF William V. Campbell Trophy to the nation’s top scholar-athlete.

This year’s College Football Hall of Fame Class includes: Dre Bly (North Carolina), Tony Boselli (Southern California), Dave Butz (Purdue), Shane Conlan (Penn State), Joe Hamilton (Georgia Tech), John Huard (Maine), Darrin Nelson (Stanford), Willie Roaf (Louisiana Tech), John Sciarra (UCLA), Sterling Sharpe (South Carolina), Leonard Smith (McNeese State), Derrick Thomas (Alabama), LaDainian Tomlinson (TCU), Wesley Walls (Mississippi) and coaches Mike Bellotti (Chico State [Calif.], Oregon) and Jerry Moore (North Texas, Texas Tech and Appalachian State). The 2014 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments, will be announced on Oct. 30, and the winner of the Campbell Trophy will be announced live at the event on Dec. 9.

For ticket information regarding the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner, please contact NFF Director of External Relations Will Rudd at 800.486.1865 or wrudd@footballfoundation.com.

NFF Chris Schenkel Award Recipients:

1996 — Chris Schenkel (ABC Sports)
1997 — Jack Cristil (Mississippi State)
1998 — Max Falkenstein (Kansas)
1999 — Jack Fleming (West Virginia)
2000 — Ray Christensen (Minnesota)
2001 — Frank Fallon (Baylor)
2002 — Bob Brooks (Iowa)
2003 — Larry Munson (Georgia)
2004 — Bob Robertson (Washington State)
2005 — Tony Roberts (Notre Dame)
2006 — Johnny Holliday (Maryland)
2007 — Bill Hillgrove (Pittsburgh)
2008 — Bob Curtis (Idaho) and Dick Galiette (Yale)
2009 — Larry Zimmer (Colorado)
2010 — Joe Starkey (California)
2011 — Woody Durham (North Carolina)
2012 — Bob Barry, Sr. (Oklahoma)
2013 — Gene Deckerhoff (Florida State)
2014 — Frank Beckmann (Michigan)

About The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, the NFF Leadership Hall of Fame, the NFF Scholar-Athlete Awards presented by Fidelity Investments, the NFF Showcases, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the NFF Faculty Salute Initiative presented by Fidelity Investments, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, and scholarships of more than $1.3 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF also presents the William V. Campbell Trophy endowed by HealthSouth and hosted at the New York Athletic Club as well as bestowing several other major awards at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City. NFF corporate partners include the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Fidelity Investments, Herff Jones, Liberty Mutual Insurance, the Sports Business Journal, and Under Armour. Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.