2004 Outstanding Contribution To Amateur Football Awardee Pat Harmon

MORRISTOWN, N.J. – April 29, 2004 – Jon F. Hanson, Chairman of The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame (NFF), announced today that long-time sports editor and historian Pat Harmon has been selected to receive the 2004 Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award.

Presented annually, this prestigious award is intended to provide national recognition to an individual whose efforts and activities in support of the Foundation and its goals have been local in nature. It also applies to individuals who have made significant contributions to the game of football either to the manner in which it is played and coached or to the manner in which it’s enjoyed by spectators.

“Pat has dedicated himself to the reporting, researching and publicizing of sports, in particular football, for more than 70 years,” said Hanson. “His devotion to and passion for the game truly merit this esteemed honor.”

Starting his career covering events at age 17 at the Freeport (Ill.) Journal Standard during the Depression era of the early 1930s, Harmon found a home in Cincinnati in 1951 and served as a sports editor and columnist for the Cincinnati Post for over 34 years. After retiring, he settled in his current job as historian of The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1986.

The presentation will be made during this year’s Enshrinement Festival, August 13-14, at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, IN.

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO AMATEUR FOOTBALL AWARD - Presented annually, this prestigious award is intended to provide national recognition to an individual whose efforts and activities in support of the Foundation and its goals have been local in nature. It also applies to individuals who have made significant contributions to the game of football either to the manner in which it is played and coached or to the manner in which it’s enjoyed by spectators.

PAT HARMON
2004 Recipient

Harmon, a father of 11 children, was president of the FWAA in 1984 and has been the historian for The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame for the last 21 years.

He has had an illustrious career as a sports writer and editor and covered such greats as Vince Lombardi, Pete Rose, Casey Stengel, Arnold Palmer, Eddie Robinson, John Wooden, Bear Bryant, Jack Nicklaus, Woody Hayes, Paul Brown and Joe Louis.

Harmon’s career started when he was a young sports writer in Illinois. Harmon began covering events at age 17 at the Freeport (Ill.) Journal Standard during the Depression era of the early 1930s. He would hitchhike to games, sleep on wrestling mats in gyms of teams he covered, and break into the food lines of teams.

However, he may be best known for inaugurating the selection of the Illinois All-State high school football and basketball teams.

Harmon moved to the Champaign (Ill.) News-Gazette in 1934, when he became a student at the University of Illinois. There, he married his wife Anne and built a strong reputation before spending four years at the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette from 1947-51.

Harmon went to Cincinnati in 1951 and served as a sports editor and columnist for the Cincinnati Post for over 34 years. During his tenure, he added the title “author” to his already impressive resume with his book “Cincinnati’s Greatest Sports Stories.” After retiring and traveling for a year, he became historian and curator of The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1986, and continues to serve as historian today.

Recently, Harmon was named the 2004 Bert McGrane Award winner by the Football Writer’s Association of America. The award honors an FWAA member who has performed great service to the organization and the game of college football. His name will also be featured in two places at the College Football Hall of Fame as a winner of the NFF’s Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award and among the listing of previous McGrane Award recipients.

Past OCAF recipients:

1974 – Lathrop Leishman

1975 – Joseph J. Tomlin

1978 – Jack Farcasin

1980 – Field Scovell

1981 – Moose Krause

1982 – Earnest E. Seiler

1983 – Gov. William Winter

1985 – A.F. “Bud” Dudley

1986 – Rex Farrior

1987 – Chris Schenkel

1988 – Lindsey Nelson

1989 – Bob Woodruff

1990 – Bill Nichols

1991 – Don B. Canham

1992 – Eddie Robinson

1993 – Buddy Leake

1994 – Mike Cleary

1995 – Fred Jacobey

1996 – Scotty Whitelaw

1997 – Jack Lengyel

1998 – Marino Casem

1999 – Chuck Neinas

2000 – Tom Nugent

2001 – Thomas Hansen

2002 – Dal Shealy

2003 – Rudy J. Riska

With 119 chapters and over 13,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in America’s young people. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., PLAY IT SMART, The NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College (Mass.), the NFL-NFF Coaching Academy, and scholarships of nearly $1 million for College and
High School Scholar-Athletes.