National Football Foundation

The Memphis Chapter of the National Football Foundation holds its annual black-tie Scholar-Athlete Banquet the last Monday of April at Rhodes College.

Eleven high school football scholar-athletes plus one scholar athlete from the University of Memphis and one from Rhodes College are recognized as being the best of the best from their respective schools.  These young men are well-respected leaders in their schools and are an example to their peers.  All 13 received partial scholarships and the scholarship donors make the presentations at the dinner. 

Additional honors presented are: the Rex Award, given to an outstanding high school coach; the Bill McElroy Memorial Award, given to a notable Memphis resident; and the Mario Reed Courage Award, presented to a football player that has overcome a great physical setback as Mario did 20 plus years ago while making a tackle which left him without the use of his arms and legs.

Two other awards, the Distinguished American and the Contribution to Amateur Football, are presented annually at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl luncheon in December.