Monday's Chalktalk - December 19, 2011

College Football Hall of Famer Harley Sewell Passes Away

Former Texas guard Harley Sewell, a 2000 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, passed away on Saturday, Dec. 17. He was 80.

To read more on Sewell, please click here.

OnDemand Replay of the NFF Annual Awards Dinner

The National Football Foundation (NFF) announced last week that XOS Digital is providing fans access to a replay of the historic 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the newly launched NFF OnDemand website, www.nffondemand.com.

XOS Digital, a leading provider of digital technologies for collegiate and professional sports organizations, created the new NFF OnDemand website, which also provides fans access to past NFF events, hard-to-find documentaries, classic interviews, and other historical NFF content. In addition to the 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner, which took place December 6 at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City, fans can watch an OnDemand replay of the morning press conference, including interviews with many of the event's honorees.

To read the full release and see a schedule of events from the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, please click here.

Robert M. Gates' NFF Gold Medal Speech

The National Football Foundation (NFF) has posted the video of the Gold Medal acceptance speech given by 2011 recipient and former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates at the 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner last week. Click here to watch the speech, which is preceded by a four-minute video tribute and an introduction by NFF Board Member Jack Ford.

To read the full speech, please click here.

2011 NFF In Memoriam

The National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame remembered recently those who passed away in 2011 and played a role in improving the game of college football for future generations.

To see the full list, please click here.

A Sincere Thank You from the NFF

The National Football Foundation relied on countless people from the world of college athletics and business to pull off its 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner early this month. The NFF would like to extend a big thank you to the individuals who presented awards at the dinner, including NFF Board Members Gene Corrigan, Jerry Jones, Jack Ford, Archie Griffin, Jon F. Hanson, Archie Manning, T. Boone Pickens, Donna Shalala, Grant Teaff, and George Weiss. A special thanks goes out to Rece Davis of ESPN for emceeing the dinner, and for Jim Nantz, Dave Barnett and Scott Murray for providing voiceovers that were played throughout the Dinner.

Others playing prominent roles at other events included longtime Texas sports information director Bill Little, who moderated the morning press conference. College Football Hall of Famer Don McPherson emceed the NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon while CLC Founder & Chairman and NFF Board Member Bill Battle and ACC Associate Commissioner Amy Yakola assisted in the presentation of the chapter awards. The NFF would also like to thank NFF Board Member George Pyne, Robin Harris, Scottie Rodgers, the Columbia University athletics department and the entire Ivy League staff for the Asa S. Bushnell Cup presentation on Monday morning. Campbell Trophy namesake and NFF Board Member Bill Campbell and NFL Executive Vice President and NFF Board Member Ray Anderson welcomed the 2011 NFF National Scholar-Athletes at a special Monday night reception. Others who assisted behind the scenes included Greg Blackwell (TCU), Bo Carter (Texas Woman's University) , Denise DiBacco (Columbia), Dr. Lisa Draucikas , Kelly Filippone, John Painter (Tennessee), John Portland (Georgia State), and Ashley Waters (Alabama).

Finally, the NFF would like to thank our corporate partners Allstate Sugar Bowl, Bowl Championship Series, Chick-fil-A Bowl, DragonFly Athletics, Fidelity Investments, Herff Jones, I Six, Lexus, Liberty Mutual, NCAA Football, SKP and XOS Digital.

THE BLITZ

Fan voting for the 2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award ends on Dec. 22. Fans can vote daily at www.coachoftheyear.com for one coach in each of the four NCAA divisions. There are 10 FBS finalists, and five finalists each in FCS, Division II and Division III. Winners will be determined by fan votes (20%), media committee (25%) and College Hall of Fame committee (55%), and will be announced Jan. 9 in New Orleans at a media event with NFF Chairman Archie Manning.

The Football Bowl Association has announced it expects to generate more than $1 billion in economic impact for the 28 host cities of the 35 bowl games.

A Game of Honor, a documentary film about the Army-Navy game produced by Showtime and CBS Sports, will premier on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime. 2011 Campbell Trophy finalist Andrew Rodriguez (Army) and John Dowd (Navy) are shown in the film, and footage shot at the 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner will also be shown. Find information on the film here and watch the web series, narrated by NFF Board Member Jim Nantz, here.

Campbell Trophy semifinalist Emmanuel Acho (Texas) was recently named to the AFCA Good Works Team.

2000 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Drew Brees (Purdue) appeared on Sesame Street on Thursday.

Arthur Ray, Jr. of Michigan State has been named the 2011 Discover Orange Bowl/FWAA Courage Award winner.

The NFF would like to extend a congratulations to recently crowned national champions Pittsburg State (Kan.) of Division II, Wisconsin - Whitewater of Division III and Saint Xavier (Ill.) of NAIA. Each will receive recognition from the NFF at the AFCA's President's Kickoff Luncheon on Monday, Jan. 9, at the AFCA Convention in San Antonio. The FCS national champions will also be recognized at that time.

Campbell Trophy semifinalist William Rudd of Virginia State is the NFF's Scholar-Athlete of the Day, presented by Fidelity Investments. Check daily at FootballFoundation.org to see which Campbell Trophy candidate is the Scholar-Athlete of the Day.

This Week in College Football History, Week of Dec. 19: In one of the wildest bowl games in college football history, Marshall overcame a 30-point to earn a 64-61 victory in double overtime over East Carolina in the 2001 GMAC Bowl. To see video of this game and read the full entry, please click here.

The FBS television schedule, including broadcast teams, will be posted this Thursday on the NFF website, www.footballfoundation.org.

You can keep up with the NFF on Twitter at Twitter.com/NFFNetwork and on Facebook.

Stay involved with the game. Become an NFF member here.

OVER THE MIDDLE

Former San Diego State and NFL defensive lineman La'Roi Glover, currently the director of player programs for the St. Louis Rams, will be the guest speaker at the NFF Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter's January luncheon. . . . The NFF Chicago Metro Chapter awards ceremony will take place Monday, February 20 from 3:30-6pm at Halas Hall. About 45 spots remain for $150/person at NFFChicagoAwards.eventbrite.com. NFF Board Member and Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany will receive the chapter's Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award. The NFF Mental Toughness Awards will be presented to NFF National Scholar-Athlete and Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish and Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa, a Campbell Trophy semifinalist. At least $15,000 in college scholarships will be awarded to local high school scholar-athletes. Northern Illinois athletics director Jeff Compher, College Football Hall of Famer Jim Covert (Pittsburgh), Northern Illinois head coach Dave Doeren, College Football Hall of Famer Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), College Football Hall of Famer Ted Hendricks (Miami, Fla.) and College Football Hall of Famer John Lattner (Notre Dame) are slated to attend. 2011 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game referee Bill LeMonnier, Northwestern athletics director Jim Phillips, Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith, Illinois State head coach Brock Spack are also expected to attend. . . . The NFF Northern California Chapter will hold its annual banquet on Feb. 23 at the San Francisco Airport Marriott.

TWO-MINUTE DRILL

Scheduling

Mississippi State will host Middle Tennessee on Oct. 20, 2012. . . . Virginia Tech will host Austin Peay in 2012.

Media

CBS Sports' coverage Army-Navy game on Saturday, Dec. 10, scored an average overnight household metered rating/share of 4.0/9, up 14 percent from last year. . . . XOS Digital will provide HD replay of 13 bowl games, including the BCS National Championship. . . . ESPN has continued its agreement to broadcast the FCS, Division II and Division III football championships through 2023. . . . This year's Heisman Trophy Presentation on ESPN was the second most viewed and highest rated telecast with an average of 4,603,000 total viewers, 3,294,000 households and a 3.3 rating on Saturday, Dec. 10. The show saw increases of greater than 20 percent in total viewers, households and ratings over last year's telecast. . . . Pac-12 Enterprises, the Pac-12 Conference's content and media company, has secured its headquarters in San Francisco . . . Last week, Minnesota revealed a portion of the Golden Gophers' new helmets on the team's various social media outlets.

Bowl Games

Kansas State and TCU have sold out their bowl allotments. . . . The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl hosted a record crowd of 42,841. Louisiana - Lafayette sold close to 20,000 tickets. . . . Louisiana - Lafayette and Ohio's victories were the first bowl wins in school history, while Temple enjoyed its first bowl win since 1979.

Community Service

On Friday, Dec. 16, members of the Mississippi State football team spent the morning ringing the Salvation Army bell in front of the store entrances of multiple grocery stores in the Starkville, Miss., area.

Facilities

Rice has approved a $44.5 million proposal to construct a new two-story football facility on the south end of Rice Stadium. . . . Middle Tennessee booster Jeff Hendrix posthumously donated $1 million for the construction of a football stadium club at Floyd Stadium, the school announced last week.

Miscellaneous

Danny Ford (Clemson), Michael Irvin (Miami, Fla.) and Spencer Tillman (Oklahoma) have been selected to the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame. . . .Michigan will don special uniforms for the Allstate Sugar Bowl. . . . Former Kansas City Chiefs player Emmitt Thomas (Bishop College, Tex.), former Missouri wide receiver Mel Gray and head coach Al Onforio and Clyde Lear, former Chairman and CEO of Learfield Communications, Inc., have been selected to the state of Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. . . . Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was the guest speaker at Florida Gulf Coast's second annual Night at the Nest fundraiser.

Obituaries

Former NFF Delaware Valley (N.J.) Chapter vice president and banquet chairman George Wah passed away Wednesday, December 14. He was 85. . . . Former SMU player Dan Shipley passed away Monday, December 19.

2012 Key NFF Dates

Jan. 3, 2012 - National Hall of Fame Salute at the Allstate Sugar Bowl - New Orleans, La. (ESPN)

Jan. 7, 2012 - FCS National Championship Game, Frisco, Texas (ESPN)

Jan. 9, 2012 - Allstate BCS National Championship Game - New Orleans, La. (ESPN)

Jan. 10, 2012 - Presentation of the NFF's MacArthur Bowl - New Orleans, La.

Dec. 4, 2012 - 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner

NFF Information

Advertising in NFF publications will put your organization in front of key decision makers in football including key administrators, coaches, players, former players, as well as other key sports business executives throughout the year. To inquire about the print advertising opportunities available to your organization, please contact Bret Krift with IMG College at 859-226-4406 or bret.krift@imgworld.com.

Become a fan of the National Football Foundation on Facebook - Upload your game day photos, check out pictures of the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, and chat with other college football fans.

For more information on the NFF and college football, including announcements from the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and NCAA Football, please visit www.footballfoundation.org.

Sign up for "This Week in NCAA Football" at ncaafootball.com.

The 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner will be held Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, at New York City's Waldorf=Astoria. For more ticket information, please contact NFF Director of National Events Will Rudd at 1-800-486-1865 or via email at wrudd@footballfoundation.com.

Notes

The NFF would like to thank correspondent Bo Carter for his contributions to this report.

NFF Chalktalk items are welcome, and should be submitted to news@footballfoundation.com.