(Pictured: The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame announced today that Dr. Tom G. Catena and George M. Weiss have been named the co-recipients of the 2014 NFF Gold Medal, the NFF's highest and most prestigious honor. They will be honored at the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 9 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.)
IRVING, Texas (July 8, 2014) – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today that Dr. Tom G. Catena and George M. Weiss have been named the co-recipients of the 2014 NFF Gold Medal. Catena, a world-renowned doctor, global humanitarian and an All-American football player from Brown University, and Weiss, an accomplished venture capitalist who has devoted more than four decades to helping guide the NFF, will be honored during the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 9 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.
“In selecting Tom Catena and George Weiss, the NFF Awards Committee and its chairman Jack Ford have identified two exceptional individuals who have made significant contributions to society and the sport of football,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “Tom Catena symbolizes everything that our organization represents. He was powerhouse as a football player who distinguished himself as an exceptional leader at Brown. He took those same skills and turned himself into a doctor, helping the less fortunate in the war torn region of the Sudan. Many of us dream of making the world a better place. Tom Catena has given up all his earthly possession to do that every day of his life. He is off the charts in making the world a better place.
“And George Weiss clearly ranks among the most influential board members in the history of the National Football Foundation. His passion for our mission began more than four decades ago, and his efforts have made a critical impact on our ability to inspire the millions of young people who play our great game each year.”
The highest and most prestigious award presented by the National Football Foundation, the Gold Medal recognizes an outstanding American who has demonstrated integrity and honesty, achieved significant career success, and has reflected the basic values of those who have excelled in amateur sport, particularly football.
“We are thrilled to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of these two great leaders with our highest honor,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning. “A truly remarkable individual, Tom Catena stands as an inspiration to us all, having created a powerful path for making a difference in one of the bleakest places on earth. His role in the Sudan in providing medical care has become so critical that it has taken us more than a year to arrange to bring him back for the event, and this December marks the first Christmas in 13 years that he will be able to spend with his family in America. As for George Weiss, he simply has provided top-level counsel to every president and chairman of the National Football Foundation since the 1960s and his countless contributions have made a lasting impact that will benefit the future of our sport for many years to come.”
Originally presented to President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in 1958, the Gold Medal boasts an impressive list of past recipients, including seven presidents, four generals, three admirals, one Supreme Court Justice, 29 corporate CEOs and chairmen, actor John Wayne and baseball immortal Jackie Robinson. Catena and Weiss will become the 60th and 61st recipients of the NFF Gold Medal. (See below for the full list of past recipients.)
Catena and Weiss will be honored at the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 9 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. They will be honored alongside the recipients of the other NFF Major Awards, including Jim Host (Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award), Duke Athletics Director Kevin White (John L. Toner Award for excellence in athletics administration), Frank Beckmann (Chris Schenkel Award for excellence in broadcasting) and the yet-to-be-announced recipient of the NFF Distinguished American Award.
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, presented by Fidelity Investments; and the bestowing of the 25th 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 972.556.1000 or wrudd@footballfoundation.com.
Dr. Tom Catena Biography
Born and raised in Amsterdam, N.Y. in a family of seven children,
Tom Catena attended Brown University, studying mechanical engineering. He excelled both in the classroom and on the football field, winning honors as an Honorable Mention All-American and All-Ivy League nose guard while becoming a Rhodes Scholar candidate.
Upon graduation,
Catena decided to pursue a medical career, and he enrolled at the Duke University School of Medicine in 1988 on a U.S. Navy scholarship. He entered the United States Navy in 1992, becoming a Naval Flight Surgeon. After fulfilling his Navy obligation, he completed a residency in family medicine at Union Hospital in Terre Haute, Ind. During his residency, he began his medical foray into the developing world with mission trips to Guyana and Honduras. In 1999, he began his service as a missionary doctor, becoming a volunteer physician with the Catholic Medical Mission Board at hospitals in Mutomo and Nairobi, Kenya.
In 2007,
Catena became the medical director and sole physician at Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountain region of the Sudan, a country where civil war has been raging for years. He established the facility with Bishop
Macram Gassis, and on opening day in 2008, he treated more than 200 patients. Since then, he has continued at a relentless pace, dealing with everything from malaria and leprosy to brain surgery. His intense and unyielding responsibilities extend to training nurses and hospital administration.
In 2011, the civil war escalated and conditions at the hospital became more intense. In addition to those wounded by the fighting, many of them children,
Catena and his staff faced a particularly severe malaria outbreak. He was given the choice to evacuate, but he refused, stating, “As the only doctor in the only hospital in the region, I could not leave in good conscience.”
A young Washington, D.C. doctor, who worked with
Catena for five weeks in the Sudan, chronicled his experiences in an essay, “Always on Call.”
The Lancet, the premier British medical journal
, published the essay in 2008, claiming the Wakley Prize as the top article on a clinical topic of international health importance. He was named a “Catholic Hero” by
Catholic Digest in 2010, and he has been quoted in numerous international publications, reporting on the ongoing civil war in the Sudan.
Catena’s many accolades include the 2013 Brown Alumni Association Williams Rogers Award and being recognized as a 2013 Ivy Football Association Honoree.
George M. Weiss Biography
A respected lawyer, George Weiss became involved with the National Football Foundation in 1969 first as an Associate Legal Counsel and then General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, and he has remained a fixture ever since. He has helped navigate the organization through countless ventures, and he has served in numerous capacities, including legal member, board member, legal counsel, committee chairman, fundraising and executive officer.
Weiss’ service to the NFF has touched the tenures of every chairman in the history the organization, including Chester J. LaRoche, Vincent dePaul Draddy, William Pearce, Jon F. Hanson, Ron A. Johnson and Archie Manning. During the 1960s and 1970s, Weiss worked closely with many of the Foundation’s pioneers, including LaRoche, Allison Danzig, Edgar Garbisch, George Murphy, Bill Morton and Stan Crossland.
Having served as NFF legal counsel for many years, Weiss accepted an invitation to join the board in 1988. He became the organization’s Treasurer/Secretary in 1995, and he served in that role until 2006 when he took on the role of Vice Chairman, a position he still holds today.
Working closely with every management team since 1969, he has had a major role in leading the foundation into a modern era, overseeing all legal matters, chapter programs, the Hall of Fame Bowl Game, the Kickoff Classic, the launch of the NFF Play It Smart youth development program, the NFL-NFF Coaching Academy, the naming of the William V. Campbell Trophy and many other projects.
During his 45 years with the organization, Weiss has helped negotiate the location of all of the sites of the College Football Hall of Fame, including its latest move to a $67 million 95,000 sqft facility in Atlanta. “I am probably the only man alive who has helped negotiate four football Halls of Fame moves… Rutgers (a house), New York (limestone mansion), Kings Island (Ohio), South Bend (Ind.) and now this (Atlanta),” Weiss said of the grand opening of the College Football Hall of Fame this fall in Atlanta.
Weiss, born in the South Bronx, moved to Rochester, N.Y., attending and playing football at Benjamin Franklin High School. For college, he attended Bowling Green State University from 1959-1963. He then returned to New York, receiving a Master’s Degree from the New York University School of Education in 1965 and his Juris Doctors degree from New York University Law School in 1968. Shortly thereafter Weiss joined the law firm of Rubin, Baum, Levin, Constant & Friedman (now the New York office of SNR Denton and the 7th largest law firm in the world) eventually becoming a senior partner. In addition to corporate legal work, Weiss carved out a niche in the music and recording field, working on projects that involved jazz pianist Chick Corea, Madonna and numerous other artists. He stayed with the firm for a little more than 17 years, leaving in 1985 to concentrate on his business ventures.
In 1992, he founded Beechtree Capital, private investment firm operating in New York City, Scottsdale, Ariz., and Silicon Valley, Calif. The firm has participated in more than 90 venture investments involving $600 million, resulting in a 75 percent success rate with an approximate 350 percent return for investors. He has been a co-founder or early investor in the predecessors of American Tower Corporation, Rogers Cable, Nexsan Technologies, XOS Digital and numerous other publicly and privately held companies.
Throughout his career, Weiss has served on the Boards of Directors and on the Audit, Executive, Nominating and Governance or Compensation Committees of numerous private, NASDAQ, AMEX and NYSE companies. He has been a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Bar Association of the City of New York and the Legal Education Committee and Committee Overseeing Public Demonstrations of the Bar Association of the City of New York.
In addition to his service to the NFF, Weiss’ charitable work includes service of more than 10 years as a board member and chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee of The Global Hunger Project, a 40 year-old strategic organization working on four continents to end hunger and provide basic human rights. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the United States Naval Academy Foundation, and for more than five years, he was an active member of BENS (Business Executives for National Security), focusing on the organization’s activities in Silicon Valley. He remains an active participant in a number of other national and international charitable and educational organizations.
Recipients of the NFF Gold Medal include:
William V. Campbell Trophy
