For Immediate Release            

Contact: Jeffrey Logan logan.jeff.34@gmail.com 614-408-1819

COLUMBUS, Ohio- The Columbus Chapter of The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame hosted the 56th annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet on Feb. 13th, 2017 at 6 p.m. at the Ohio Union on the campus of The Ohio State University. 

Awards were given to the top high school and college football scholar-athletes in the central Ohio area.  15 high school scholar-athletes were presented with John H. McConnell and Worthington Industries Foundation Scholarships and Will Phillis from Hilliard Bradley received the Maggied-Romanoff Award as the most outstanding scholar-athlete of the group. College scholar-athletes from Ohio State, Ohio Wesleyan, Otterbein, Capital, Denison, and Kenyon were also recognized and Andrew Baird of Denison was named as a recipient of a post-graduate scholarship.

Jim Lachey received the Ohio Gold Award, the highest honor given by the organization, for contributions to amateur football.  Lachey was an All-American at Ohio State and an All-Pro in the NFL.  He currently serves as the color analyst for the OSU Football radio network. Previous Ohio Gold recipients include Joey Galloway, Troy Smith, Orlando Pace, Eddie George, Archie Griffin, Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce, John Cooper, Gene Smith, Chris Spielman, Ann Hayes, Jim Tressel and John Hicks.

Ohio State has 22 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), Brian Robiskie (2008) and most recently Jacoby Boren (2015).

The annual Larry Larson High School Coaches Award was presented to two legendary high school coaches from Marion Pleasant, the late Don Kay and Chris Kubbs.

The Tyson Gentry Courage Award was presented to long-time central Ohio high school football coach Mike Golden who took a leave of absence in September as head coach at Delaware Hayes as he battles lung cancer.  A great leader of young men as a coach for more than 28 years, Golden has a record of 21-4-92 at Watterson, New Albany, Upper Arlington and Delaware.  He led Division III Watterson to the state title in 2002 and his teams have made 16 playoff appearances.

Ohio State’s most recent inductee in the College Football Hall of Fame, Tom Cousineau was recognized for his election to this very elite group of college football’s greatest.  Cousineau boosts the number of Ohio State athletes to be inducted to 25.  The College Football Hall of Fame is located in Atlanta, Georgia.  More information can be found at www.footballfoundation.org.

The Chapter also honored retired Columbus Dispatch sports columnist Bob Hunter for his contributions to amateur football in Central Ohio.  Hunter began his career with the Dispatch in 1975.

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.

“It’s a wonderful organization and event,” said Jake Jackson, President of the Columbus Chapter. “Coach Woody Hayes always preached about ‘paying forward.’ For those who played or love college football, this is a great way to support some of the great young people in our local high school and college community. The Foundation and it scholarships help mold the leaders of tomorrow through education and football.”