National Football Foundation

His professional life has been dedicated to sports. And few men have spent as much time (35 years), as much energy and contributed as much to the development and success of college football and all intercollegiate athletics.

For that reason, Michael J. Cleary is honored by the National Football Foundation with its 1994 Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award. He is the seventeenth individual to receive this award since it was created 20 years ago.

When earlier this year Mike was informed he would receive the 1994 Award, he said, "It is truly an honor to be given an award by the National Football Foundation, one of whose founding fathers was a boyhood hero of mine, Grantland Rice. I am proud to be in the company of previous honorees such as Moose Krause of Notre Dame, Don Canham of Michigan, Eddie Robinson of Grambling and Bob Woodruff of Tennessee.

For 29 of the 35 years he has been in sports, Cleary has been the executive director of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), the first and only person to hold that position.

When he took on that job, the fledgling body was one year old and had only 200 members. Under his guidance and leadership, NACDA grew to a membership of close to 5,100 athletic administrators from over 1,500 academic institutions in the United States and Canada.

No question about it, Mike Cleary has had an influential impact on not only the growth of college sports and football during his career, he has also been unswerving in his dedication and determination to define and promote the integrity of intercollegiate athletics.

Under Cleary, some of the professional and educational services that NACDA has created for its membership includes the annual convention that attracts over 1,000 administrators and the annual Management Institute. In addition, NACDA holds clinics on such diverse topics as facilities, fund raising and marketing. There are also workshops for sports law, time management, insurance, testing and drug education. The organization also publishes the bimonthly magazine, "Athletics Administration" and also manages the NACDA Foundation.

Cleary's association with the National Football Foundation began in the late 1960s when he served on the NFF Council. Then, in the early 1980's he worked very closely with the NFF to help create the annual Kickoff Classic, a game played at Giants Stadium and now considered as the nation's college football season opener.

Since the first game in 1983, the Kickoff Classic has generated more than $5,000,000 for the support of The Foundation's Scholar-Athlete program, NACDA and the American Football Coaches Association.

Among his many NFF activities, Cleary was also the driving force behind the creation of the Northeastern Ohio Chapter in 1988. He was also instrumental in establishment of the Disneyland Pigskin Classic.

This year was a particularly big one for college football as it celebrated its 125th anniversary. And Cleary, NACDA, and the AFCA combined resources, ideas and energies to help make this football milestone year important and memorable.

Going beyond football, Cleary was way-out front in the creation of the Sears Directors' Cup, which honors the all-sports champions in Division I. The program rewards excellence across the board, recognizing those programs that are broad-based and achieve success in many sports; both women's and men's.

Before joining NACDA, Cleary had served as director of championship events for the NCAA and also held the same position with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

Cleary had been on the pro side of sports before he dedicated his life to amateur athletics. He had served as general manager of the Cleveland Pipers under owner George Steinbrenner and the Kansas City Steers in the old American Basketball League. He was also midwest scout for the New York Knicks.

Cleveland has always been home to Mike. He graduated from John Carroll University in University Heights, a Cleveland suburb. He and his wife enjoy a great family of nine children and 16 grandchildren.?