IRVING, Texas (Aug. 28, 2018) – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today that it will present the 2018 NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award to Murry Bowden, a College Football Hall of Fame inductee from Dartmouth who serves as chairman of Atlanta Hall Management, which oversees the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. He will be honored at the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 4 at the New York Hilton Midtown in recognition of his many contributions and specifically his role in building the new Hall in Atlanta.
 
"Murry's work bringing the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta has been nothing short of phenomenal," said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. "His background in real estate and his passion for college football created the perfect combination to ensure the project's success. As chairman of Atlanta Hall Management, he played critical roles in actual building of the facility, securing the construction loans, and now its operation.
 
"Murry certainly stands among the NFF's most ardent advocates during the last 15 years, and we are honored to recognize his many important contributions to football, the NFF and the Hall at our Annual Awards Dinner in December." 
 
First presented in 1974, the NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award provides national recognition to those whose efforts to support the NFF and its goals have been local in nature or who have made significant contributions to the game of football either to the manner in which it is played and coached or to the manner in which it is enjoyed by spectators. Bowden becomes the 42nd recipient of the award.
 
After graduating cum laude from Dartmouth with a degree in psychology, Bowden worked on his family's ranch for a year before attending law school at the University of Texas. In 1982, he founded The Hanover Company, a real estate investment firm in Houston where he remains the chairman and CEO. Specializing in developing high quality multi-family residential properties, the company ranks among the top private real estate companies in the United States with 56,000 unit projects at a cost of more than $12.0 billion since its inception.
 
In 2003, the same year he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Bowden joined the National Football Foundation Board of Directors. He helped guide the NFF through one of its most successful periods while serving as Vice Chairman from 2010-16, and he remains involved with the organization as a director emeritus.
 
As the NFF prepared to move the College Football Hall of Fame from South Bend, Ind., to Atlanta, Bowden's experience as a real estate developer and Hall of Fame player gave him the perfect credentials to represent the NFF on the Atlanta Hall Management (AHM) Board, the legal entity established in 2011 to oversee the construction of the new Hall in Atlanta. Bowden embraced the opportunity, taking on the role of chair of the building committee.
 
"I had the skill set and had [building experience], so it was very natural," Bowden said. "I hadn't ever built anything quite like the College Football Hall of Fame. I had built many apartments, but this was something terribly interesting and unique. It's a great building."
 
The state-of-the art College Football Hall of Fame opened its doors in August of 2014 in the heart of Atlanta's sports, entertainment and tourism district. In 2015, Bowden extended his commitment to the Hall's success in Atlanta by becoming chairman of AHM, which continues to maintain and operate the Hall with Bowden still in the lead role. As chairman, he played a key role in securing Chick-fil-A as the title sponsor of the Hall of Fame in early 2018.
 
The College Football Hall of Fame has received universal praise from the media, the community and visitors, who receive a highly immersive and engaging experience with a blend of historic college football artifacts alongside state-of-the-art, interactive exhibits.
 
After growing up on a ranch in Snyder, Texas, Murry Bowden headed to the Ivy League to play football at Dartmouth College. Flourishing under College Football Hall of Fame coach Bob Blackman, Bowden was just as likely to be found at the line making a tackle for a loss as he was deep in the secondary making an interception. His reputation for making plays all over the field earned him the nickname, "The Reckless Rover."
 
Bowden guided the Big Green to the Ivy League title in both his junior and senior seasons, the first two of an eventual string of five consecutive Ivy crowns. The undefeated 1970 team (9-0) was the last Ivy League school to be ranked among the nation's top 20 teams, as the Big Green finished 13th and 14th in the two major polls. That season, the Dartmouth defense ranked in the nation's top 10 in seven statistical categories, including first in scoring defense and second in total defense.
 
Bowden was a team captain and earned First Team All-America honors during his senior season in 1970. His other accolades included the Sport Magazine Athlete of the Month Award and the Alfred E. Watson Trophy, which is awarded each year to the outstanding athlete at Dartmouth College. Bowden was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
 
"You learn leadership qualities in football," Bowden said. "People are looking for somebody to say, 'Let's go take this mountain.' It is a little bit inspiration, a little bit intellectualism and a lot of brute force. I just think it's a great sport. It's a very difficult sport, but it's played a big role in my development from growing up on a ranch in West Texas all the way to the Ivy League. It helped me get there."
 
Bowden will be honored during the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York alongside the recipients of the other NFF Major Awards, including longtime voice of the Texas A&M Aggies Dave South (NFF Chris Schenkel Award for excellence in broadcasting) and retiring Yale athletics director Thomas Beckett and Harvard athletics director Bob Scalise (NFF John L. Toner Award co-recipients for excellence in athletics administration).
 
In addition to the presentation of the NFF Major Awards, the 61^st NFF Annual Awards Dinner will provide the stage for the induction of the 2018 College Football Hall of Fame Class; the presentation of the 2018 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards; and the bestowing of the 29^th NFF William V. Campbell Trophy^® to the nation's top football scholar-athlete.
 
This year's College Football Hall of Fame Class includes Trevor Cobb (Rice), Kerry Collins (Penn State), Dave Dickenson (Montana), Dana Howard (Illinois), Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech), Paul Palmer (Temple), Ed Reed (Miami [Fla.]), Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia), Aaron Taylor (Nebraska), Charles Woodson (Michigan) and coaches Frank Beamer (Murray State, Virginia Tech), Mack Brown (Appalachian State, Tulane, North Carolina, Texas) and Mel Tjeerdsma (Austin College [Texas], Northwest Missouri State).
 
On Oct. 31, the NFF will announce the members of the 2018 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, who will vie as finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy^®. They will be honored at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 4, where one will be named the recipient of the Campbell Trophy^® as the nation's top football scholar-athlete.
 
For ticket information regarding the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner, please contact NFF Director of External Relations Will Rudd at 972.556.1000 or wrudd@footballfoundation.com
 
NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award Recipients:
 
2018 – Murry Bowden
2017 – No honoree
2016 – Grant Teaff
2015 – Charlie and Pete Gogolak
2014 – Jim Host
2013 – Dennie Poppe
2012 – No honoree
2011 – Verne Lundquist, Brent Musburger
2010 – Dr. Joseph Kearney
2009 – Dan Jenkins
2008 – Bill Battle
2007 – The Collegiate Bowl Games
2006 – ESPN's College GameDay
2005 – Prentice Gautt
2004 – Rick Dickson, Pat Harmon
2003 – Rudy J. Riska
2002 – Dal Shealy
2001 – Thomas C. Hansen
2000 – Tom Nugent
1999 – Chuck Neinas
1998 – Marino H. Casem
1997 – Jack Lengyel
1996 – Robert M. "Scotty" Whitelaw
1995 – Fred Jacoby
1994 – Mike Cleary
1993 – John E. "Buddy" Leake
1992 – Eddie Robinson
1991 – Don B. Canham
1990 – Bill Nicholas
1989 – Bob Woodruff
1988 – Lindsey Nelson
1987 – Chris Schenkel
1986 – Rex Farrior
1985 – A.F. "Bud" Dudley
1984 – No honoree
1983 – Gov. William Winter
1982 – Earnest E. Seiler
1981 – Edward "Moose" Krause
1980 – Field Scovell
1979 – No honoree
1978 – Jack Farcasin
1977 – No honoree
1976 – No honoree
1975 – Joseph J. Tomlin
1974 – Lathrop King Leishman


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 Football Matters^®, the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, The William V. Campbell Trophy^®, annual scholarships of more than $1.3 million and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments – a proud partner of the Campbell Trophy^®, Herff Jones, New York Athletic Club, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Sports Business Journal, SportsManias, Under Armour and VICIS. Learn more at footballfoundation.org.