NEW YORK (Dec. 10, 2019) – The New York Hilton Midtown's Grand Ballroom played host to an all-star cast of history's greatest football legends and the sport's most promising student-athletes during tonight's 62nd National Football Foundation (NFF) Annual Awards Dinner Presented by ETT.

The star-studded 2019 College Football Hall of Fame Class Presented by ETT took center stage at the event during its formal induction, and 12 of the game's current-leading student-athletes collected $223,000 in postgraduate scholarships as members of the 2019 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments.
 
The festivities began with Oregon's Justin Herbert being declared the recipient of the 30th William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda as the top football scholar-athlete in the nation and receiving a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship. The evening culminated with poignant speeches from celebrated actor and former NFF National Scholar-Athlete Mark Harmon, who accepted the 2019 NFF Gold Medal, and from Hall of Fame inductee Coach Joe Taylor responding on behalf of the 2019 Class.
 
Photos from the NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by ETT can be found in a Photoshelter Gallery accessed via this link and password "nff2019" (please credit all photos in this folder to the National Football Foundation/Ben Solomon). Within the next 24 hours, a replay of the event can be watched on ESPN3 by clicking here.

A packed house of 1,700, including more than 80 current collegiate head coaches and 40 returning Hall of Famers attended the event, which took place for the third year at the New York Hilton Midtown. Charles Davis, a current game analyst for the NFL on FOX and former University of Tennessee standout safety, entertained the crowd as the emcee for the annual celebration, which lived up to its historic role of bringing the college football community together at the end of the regular season to pay tribute to the game and its greatest legends. This year's dinner was especially momentous with a special tribute to the 150th anniversary of college football.

The 2019 College Football Hall of Fame Class Presented by ETT was introduced by NFF Board Member Archie Griffin, a Hall of Fame running back from Ohio State. The class included Terrell Buckley (Florida State), Rickey Dixon (Oklahoma), London Fletcher (John Carroll [OH]), Jacob Green (Texas A&M), Torry Holt (North Carolina State), Raghib "Rocket" Ismail (Notre Dame), Darren McFadden (Arkansas), Jake Plummer (Arizona State), Troy Polamalu (Southern California), Joe Thomas (Wisconsin), Lorenzo White (Michigan State), Patrick Willis (Mississippi), Vince Young (Texas) and coaches Dennis Erickson (Idaho, Wyoming, Washington State, Miami [FL], Oregon State, Arizona State) and Joe Taylor (Howard, Virginia Union, Hampton, Florida A&M). NFF Chairman and Hall of Fame inductee Archie Manning (Mississippi) conducted the Official Hall of Fame Ring Ceremony.

The 13 players and two coaches bring the total number of players in the Hall of Fame to 1,010 and the number of coaches to 219. Coach Taylor, who compiled an impressive 233 wins overall during his standout 30-year career and ranks in the top 10 in FCS history with a 70.6 winning percentage, responded on behalf of the 2019 Class.
 
"The Class of 2019 – we gave ourselves permission to win," said Coach Taylor. "Steve Hatchell and the National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame committee noticed our discipline. They noticed our attitude. They noticed our sacrifice. And they noticed our habits. They called us together here tonight to say 'Hard work does not go unnoticed.' Can you please give this class one more round of applause!"
 
The 2019 College Football Hall of Fame Class Presented by ETT boasted 13 First Team All-Americans, two coaches, one NFF National Scholar-Athlete, five unanimous First Team All-Americans, seven winners of college football major awards and coaches that combined for six national championships and 10 conference coach of the year honors.
 
The 2019 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments joined the Hall of Famers on stage. Comprised of 12 of the most talented and brightest football players in the nation, each member of the class received an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and was a finalist for The William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda. Kathy Murphy, NFF vice chairwoman and president of Personal Investing at Fidelity Investments, led the presentation of the Scholar-Athlete Awards, while Dino Bernacchi, Mazda North American Operations Chief Marketing O­fficer, had the honor of presenting the 30th Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda to Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert. As the recipient of the trophy, Herbert's postgraduate scholarship increases to a total of $25,000.
 
"It's an incredible honor to be standing here in front of all of you and receiving this award," Herbert said. "I'd like to thank the National Football Foundation for hosting such an unforgettable event. I'm honored to be joining the incredible people who have previously received this award, and I'll do my best to uphold the legacy of everyone who has won it before me."
 
In addition to thanking his family, teammates, his head coach Mario Cristobal and his Athletics Director Rob Mullens, Herbert said he "can't way to play in the Rose Bowl for our last game."

Maintaining a remarkable 4.01 GPA, Herbert has been selected as the back-to-back Football Academic All-American of the Year while ranking in the top two in nearly every Oregon passing category. Herbert is set to graduate this December with a degree in science, and he plans to attend medical school one day. This season, he became the first Oregon player to earn the Pac-12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. The Academic All-American of the Year in both 2018 and 2019, he has been named a First Team Academic All-American three times.

This season, Herbert has guided the Ducks to an 11-2 record and the 2019 Pac-12 title after a win over then-No. 5 Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game this past weekend. Herbert and the No. 6 Ducks will play No. 8 Wisconsin in the 106th Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual on New Year's Day. The game will kick off at 5 p.m. ET and air on ESPN.
 
The two-year captain's 32 passing touchdowns rank second in the Pac-12 and are tied for 10th nationally while his 3,333 passing yards are the second most in the Pac-12. For his career, Herbert is one of just two Oregon quarterbacks to surpass 10,000 passing yards, as the senior now boasts 10,403 in second place all-time in school annals behind Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota. Herbert owns school career records for completions (813) and pass attempts (1,273) while ranking second in completion percentage (.641) and 300-yard passing games (9).
 
Active off the field, Herbert participated in the O Heroes "Court for Kids" service trip to Uganda in 2018, and he has helped prepare Thanksgiving baskets for disadvantaged families for multiple years.

The other members of the 2019 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments included Spencer Blackburn (Eastern Washington), Rodrigo Blankenship (Georgia), Jordan Fuller (Ohio State), Alex Goettl (Minnesota State), Adam Holtorf (Kansas State), Michael Lohmeier (Carnegie Mellon [PA]), Jordan Mack (Virginia), Dante Olson (Montana), Jelani Taylor (Cornell), Casey Toohill (Stanford) and Jon Wassink (Western Michigan).
 
NFF Vice Chairman and TV personality Jack Ford presented the Gold Medal, the organization's highest and most prestigious award, to Mark Harmon. The famed actor stars as Leroy Jethro Gibbs on CBS' global favorite "NCIS" series, which is consistently ranked among the five highest-rated TV shows each year. Harmon had equal success as the quarterback at UCLA, leading the Bruins to a combined 17-5 record in 1972 and 1973 while earning a prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award.
 
"John Wayne was the Gold Medal recipient in 1973 when I last attended this event [as an NFF National Scholar-Athlete]," Harmon said. "John Wayne, the former Marion Morrison, The Duke, Sergeant Stryker, the 'Sands of Iwo Jima and we were excited to get an opportunity to meet him…Dad [Hall of Famer and Heisman Trophy recipient Tom Harmon] was a broadcaster and a producer and he worked hard. He did the local news two shows a day, seven days a week. He also did his national radio show broadcast. Mom worked hard too, raising a growing family with family needs. In that family, values mattered. Kindness mattered. Taking responsibility mattered. No one was more important than anyone else. You work hard in everything you do. There was no failure, as long as you tried your best.
 
"I was that kid, always outside, always with a ball, any ball, always looking for someone to play catch with, anyone to play catch with, kind of like a golden retriever. I was never the strongest, never the tallest, the fastest or the smartest in anything I tried to do, but I loved to compete and I loved sports. Always loved sports, any sport. I had big dreams, but that's really all they were. Sometimes people doubting you or telling you that you can't do something becomes incentive to prove them wrong.
 
"I paid specific attention to the little things, those small parts of anything that some people with more talent either ignored or took for granted."

NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell introduced the other major award recipients, which included former Saint Louis, Maryland and North Carolina State Director of Athletics Deborah Yow (NFF John L. Toner Award for excellence in athletics administration), Voice of the Alabama Crimson Tide Eli Gold (NFF Chris Schenkel Award for excellence in broadcasting), Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame CEO Dennis Adamovich (NFF Legacy Award) and College Football Officiating National Coordinator Rogers Redding (NFF Legacy Award).
 
Shahal Khan, the CEO of ETT, who served as the presenting sponsor of the event, provided the official welcome while the Invocation was done by the Reverend Joseph M. McShane, S.J., the president at Fordham University. America's beloved tenor and Annual Awards Dinner staple, Daniel Rodriguez, returned to sing the "National Anthem" and "God Bless America" while Gold, the Voice of the Crimson Tide and the night's Schenkel Award recipient, introduced the returning members of the College Football Hall of Fame in attendance.
 
The NFF also recognized the 2019 MEAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year during the NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by ETT. Florida A&M quarterback Ryan Stanley and North Carolina Central defensive end Darius Royster, the MEAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, were announced this morning by commissioner Dennis Thomas.
 
The five 2019 NFF Chapter Leadership Award recipients, one from each region of the country, were also recognized during the Dinner for their leadership at the local level: Nick Fitzgerald (Capital District (NY) Chapter), Mike Gonce (Mountain Empire (TN) Chapter), Steve McKay (Orange County (CA) Chapter), Fred Roselli (Bill Denny/Rutgers Football Letterwinners (NJ) Chapter) and Mike Skvara (Southern Indiana Chapter).

Earlier today, ESPN broadcaster Holly Rowe hosted the second Amos Alonzo Stagg Social presented by Under Armour, a private event honoring the 2019 College Football Hall of Fame Class Presented by ETT.

George Sechrist, of the Business Media Group (BMG) based in Indianapolis, produced the NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by ETT for the seventh time, and ESPN3 carried the event live.
 
Sponsors for the day's events included the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Delta Air Lines, ETT, Fidelity Investments, Goodyear, Herff Jones, iSix, Mazda, New York Athletic Club, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation, Spielman Koenigsberg & Parker LLP, Sports Business Journal, Under Armour and XOS Digital.
 
"The NFF Annual Awards Dinner continues to grow in both size and prestige each December," NFF President Steve Hatchell said. "Those in the room tonight care deeply about the game, and the event captured the essence of why Football Matters® and the positive impact college football has made during the last 150 years. This sport transforms lives, opens doors and instills the characteristics in our young people that make our country great. When you listen to the accomplishments of the night's honorees, you know that the future of our sport remains bright."
 
 
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® Presented by Mazda, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments 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, ETT, Fidelity Investments, Goodyear, Herff Jones, Mazda, the New York Athletic Club, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Sports Business Journal and Under Armour. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork and learn more at footballfoundation.org.