For Immediate Release            

Columbus, Ohio - The Columbus Chapter of The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame hosted the 54th annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet on Feb. 9th, 2015 at 6 p.m. at the Ohio Union on the campus of The Ohio State University.  A sold out event of more than 400 celebrated the success of outstanding scholar-athletes from Central Ohio football.

Guests on hand had a chance to view and get pictures with the Heisman Trophy and the 2014 National Championship Trophy, won by Ohio State in the first year of the college football playoff system.

15 high school scholar-athletes were presented with John H. McConnell and Worthington Industries Foundation Scholarships. Hunter Pharis of Harvest Preparatory School was recognized with the Maggied-Romanoff Award as the most outstanding scholar-athlete of the group.

College scholar-athletes from Ohio State, Ohio Wesleyan, Otterbein, Capital, Denison, Ohio Dominican and Kenyon were honored as well for their achievements on the field and the classroom and communities.  Mark Miller, the record setting quarterback from Ohio Dominican University, was recognized as the top college scholar-athlete and was awarded a post-graduate scholarship.

Troy Smith received the Ohio Gold Award, the highest honor given by the organization, for contributions to amateur football.  Smith was the Heisman Trophy winner for Ohio State in 2006. Previous Ohio Gold recipients include Orlando Pace, Eddie George, Archie Griffin, Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce, John Cooper, Gene Smith, Chris Spielman, Ann Hayes, Jim Tressel and John Hicks among others.

The annual High School Coaches Award went to Bob Jacoby, the legendary coach from Columbus St. Francis DeSales.  He was presented the award by his former player, Luke Fickell, Defensive Coordinator for Ohio State.

Former Ohio State running back and scholar-athlete Brandon Schnittker was on hand for the “where are they now?” segment.  He is a highly successful sales manager with Stryker in Chicago and told the crowd how “important it has been in his career to use the lessons learned in football to become successful.”

In a highly emotional moment, former Ohio State wide receiver Tyson Gentry presented the Courage Award to a spinal cord injured Alex Malarkey who was on hand to receive the recognition for his courageous battle as a quadriplegic.  Gentry, who is also limited to a wheel chair due to spinal cord football injury while at Ohio State, is a member of the Board for the Columbus Chapter.

OSU has 20 National Football Foundation Hall of Fame Scholarship winners for academic and athletic excellence. Recent recipients include Craig Krenzel (2003), Ahmed Plummer (1999), Greg Bellisari (1996), Bobby Hoying (1995), Joey Galloway (1994), and Brian Robiskie (2008).

The NFF and College Hall of Fame is a member-supported non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the future of amateur football at local, state and national levels. The foundation with its chapters annually awards nearly $1 million in scholarships to over 3,000 high school and college student athletes for continuing education.