National Football Foundation

No one knows about a life dedicated to promoting football better than NFF South Region Coordinator Art Demmas. For the better part of fifty years, Art has lived and breathed the game on both sides of the ball. From playing big-time college football in the SEC to umpiring four NFL Super Bowls to dedicating 42 years to the NFF and its mission, few can tell the stories that Art can.
 
A native of St. Louis, Mo., Art began his football successes as a high school All-American, leading the St. Louis University High School team to the state championship. Art then attended Vanderbilt University and was a four year starting tackle, including playing on the 1955 squad that beat Auburn in the Gator Bowl. In 1956 Art was co-captain of the Commodores and Second Team All-SEC and an Academic All-America. Art has received the Vanderbilt Legend's Award, and he earned induction into the Tennessee Sport Hall of Fame in 1997.
 
After graduation, Art served his country in the U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps before starting his career on the other side of the ball as a game official. He started in 1957 as a high school referee, and it became obvious to everyone that he had found his true calling. The next year he was tabbed by the SEC to be an umpire, and by 1967 he was working games for the NFL. A legend in the NFL officials ranks, Art earned the honor of working four Super Bowls (XIII, XVII, XXV & XXVIII). He retired from the NFL in 2006.
 
During his work as an official, Art began a relationship with the NFF Honors Court Chairman Fred Russell, who had become one of the most decorated and influential sports journalists in the country during his tenure with the Nashville Banner. And in 1966, behind the leadership of Russell and Demmas and others in the Nashville, Tenn., area, the Middle Tennessee Chapter held its first banquet, honoring one student-athlete.
 
"It was a privilege to work with Fred Russell to start the chapter 42 years ago which led to my appointment as Southern Region Coordinator in 1991," said Demmas. "To witness the numerous honorees and experience the growth in the chapters in the South Region has been a blessing."
 
Today building on the 42-year legacy started in 1966 by Russell, Demmas and many others, the Middle Tennessee Chapter honors 53 high school and seven collegiate scholars each year while distributing $28,000 in scholarships. The group honorees have included three Tennessee Governors, two U.S. Senators, and a U.S. Ambassador.
 
"Art Demmas represents what has made college football so appealing and successful," said University of Georgia Chapter Executive Director Loran Smith. "He loves the game and has taken a giving back stance since graduating from Vanderbilt. He, himself, was a scholar-athlete and represents the high ideals of the foundation, which were established in the beginning."
 
Art continues to live in Nashville with his wife Nancy. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.