NFF Gold Medal Recipients
Biography
A super successful sports businessman as the principal owner of the New York Yankees, Steinbrenner dedicated equal passion to humanitarian and civic causes, including serving on the NFF Board of Directors since 1998.
A longtime friend of the NFF, Steinbrenner attended every NFF Annual Awards Dinner for more than 35 years. In 1997, he endowed one of the prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards in honor of legendary Hall of Fame Coach Eddie Robinson and in 2003 he became the first and only person to ever endow a second NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award, this time in honor of his longtime friend, coach Lou Saban.
In his competitive younger days, Steinbrenner played football at Culver Military Academy (Ind.) and Williams College (Mass.) Before being called home to help with his family's struggling shipping business, Steinbrenner's first career choice was to be a football coach, and he began as an assistant coach at Northwestern coaching lineman for Saban. He then joined the staff at Purdue as an assistant backfield coach under Hall of Fame coach Jack Mollenkopf.
In 2002, the NFF presented Steinbrenner with its Gold Medal, the organization's highest honor, joining seven U.S. Presidents, four U.S. Generals, three U.S. Admirals, 26 corporate CEOs, and one U.S. Supreme Court Justice as recipients of the honor.
