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NFF Chalktalk - April 4, 2016
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Oklahoma Recognized for Promoting Scholar-Athlete Ideal
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As part of the NFF Faculty Salutes, presented by Fidelity Investments, the NFF will present University of Oklahoma Faculty Athletics Representative Kelly Damphousse with a commemorative plaque and the school with $5,000 on April 8.
Oklahoma and Damphousse are being recognized for their efforts in fostering excellence among the student-athletes as exemplified by 2015 William V. Campbell Trophy winner Ty Darlington. The presentation will take place during a reception at noon CT in the Santee Lounge of Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
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THE NCAA RULES CHANGES: A CLOSER LOOK
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Rogers Redding |
Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College Football Officiating, provides insights about rules changes and the mindset of college football referees. The CFO is the national professional organization for all football officials who work games at the collegiate level.
In our last column we looked at the list of new rules passed by the NCAA football rules committee. In the next few columns we will examine these changes more closely so that readers may have a better understanding of the committee's actions. This week we focus on some changes involving safety.
Player safety continues to be at the top of the priority list for the rules committee, and several of the changes for 2016 represent some adjustments to the existing rules.
Sliding Ball Carrier: Defenseless Player
There are several situations where a player is considered "defenseless" for purposes of the targeting rule. Examples include a pass receiver who is concentrating on catching the ball and a kick-return man awaiting a punt. This year the committee added the ball carrier who has "obviously given himself up and is sliding feet-first."
Tripping the Ball Carrier
For a number of years it has been illegal for a player to stick out his foot or leg to trip an opponent, but it was legal to do this to the ball carrier. Because of leg injuries to runners over the past couple years, the committee now has made it illegal to trip any opponent, including the ball carrier.
Blocking Below the Waist
The committee continues to monitor the role of "low blocks" in our game. This year's change tightens the language to ensure that a low block outside the tackle box must be directly from the front, and that even a full-front "crackback" block is legal only after the ball carrier is beyond the line of scrimmage.
Targeting: An Expanded Role for Instant Replay
By rule, every targeting foul is reviewed by the instant replay official. Up to this point, the replay official's role has been to verify whether the forcible contact was with the crown of the helmet or was struck at the head or neck area of a defenseless player. Now as part of the review, the replay official is directed to examine all elements of the ruling made by the official on the field, not only the location of the forcible contact. In addition, the replay official is empowered to "create" a foul if he sees an obvious and egregious targeting action that the officials on the field miss. Because the action is so dangerous and the ejection penalty so severe, the committee has made these changes to increase the probability that targeting fouls are correctly ruled and administered.
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Upcoming Events at the Hall
April 9-10 Hall of Fame Chip-Off- Celebrate a Georgia tradition at the Hall April 9-10. Guests will enjoy delicious tournament style food and beverages and have the chance to win prizes in putting and chipping contests brought by TopGolf Midtown. Tickets can be found here for April 9 and here for April 10.
April 16 Football Blues- Feeling sad and blue because football season is over? Well the fun never stops at the College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience. Bring your friends and family to chase away the "Football Blues" on April 16 at the Hall's first football, music, food and fun-filled tailgate including southern-style food and blues music from The Breeze Kings. Click here for tickets.
April 30 Teacher Appreciation Day- Join us on April 30 as we show teachers a little love. In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Day, all educators are invited to visit the Hall for FREE with their valid identification.
April 30 Girl Scouts Day- The Hall will celebrate the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta on Saturday, April 30, with a special $13.99 ticket offer, a custom patch and a photo opportunity with former Girl Scout and Miss Atlanta 2016, Lindsey Quandt. Click here for tickets.
The Hall on the Road
April 8-10 Atlanta Dogwood Festival
April 16-17 Big Shanty Festival
April 23 Girls on the Run 5K at Georgia Tech
April 23-24 Smyrna Jonquil Festival
April 28-30 NFL Draft Town in Chicago
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The College Football Hall of Fame opened its doors Aug. 23, 2014, in the heart of Atlanta's sports, entertainment and tourism district. Adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park, the new Hall provides visitors with a highly immersive, interactive and engaging experience using a blend of historic college football artifacts and state-of-the-art, interactive multimedia exhibits. To plan your visit and purchase tickets, visit
www.cfbhall.com.
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NFF Board Member, Dallas Cowboys owner and 2013 NFF Leadership Hall of Fame inductee,
Jerry Jones
, was the guest speaker at the Canton (Ohio) Regional Chamber of Commerce's 102nd annual dinner on March 30.
Named in recognition of generous support from NFF Board Member and 2015 NFF Leadership Hall of Fame inductee Casey Wasserman, the Wasserman Football Center, which will serve as the future on-campus training and practice hub for UCLA football, remains on-schedule to open by the end of summer 2017.
NFF Board Member and Under Armour CEO & Chairman Kevin Plank, a former football player at Maryland, will give the commencement address at his alma mater on May 18.
Actor Lyriq Bent has been cast to play 2016 College Football Hall of Fame electee Marlin Briscoe (Nebraska Omaha) in a biopic titled, "The Magician, the Marlin Briscoe Story." Filming is slated to begin later this year for the movie, which was written by Gregory Allen Howard of "Remember the Titans" and "Ali" fame.
College Football Hall of Famer Don McPherson (Syracuse) will speaking tonight on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
TCU recently unveiled statues of College Football Hall of Famer Davey O'Brien and Hall of Fame coach Dutch Meyer. They also erected a statue of current head coach Gary Patterson.
College Football Hall of Famer Joe Theismann (Notre Dame)
will serve
as the guest speaker at Montana State's annual Triangle Classic fundraiser banquet on April 8 in Great Falls.
College Football Hall of Fame Coach Gene Stallings
will headline
Stephen F. Austin State's 2016 Archie McDonald Speaker Series on April 11.
College Football Hall of Fame coach Jim Tressel
will be among
the speakers at the 85th annual Ohio State Football Clinic April 14-16.
College Football Hall of Famer Floyd Little (Syracuse) will be a presenter at the Manlius Pebble Hill School's 2016 Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony on June 4 in Syracuse, N.Y.
College Football Hall of Famer Ricky Williams (Texas) and 2015 NFF Chapter Leadership Award recipient and NFF Texas Tech Chapter President Mark Ball were among those who took part in the Texas Lyceum's 30th Public Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, March 31-April 2.
2009 William V. Campbell Trophy recipient and SEC Network analyst Tim Tebow (Florida) will be the keynote speaker at the Blue Mountain College (Miss.) Scholarship Gala on April 12.
2015 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Jacoby Boren was announced as the male recipient of Ohio State's Big Ten Medal of Honor.
The Football Bowl Association interviewed new Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman, who was a 2000 NFF National Scholar-Athlete for the Fighting Illini.
2015 NFF Gold Medal recipient Dr. Condoleezza Rice will speak at Stillman College's 140th-anniversary celebration in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on May 19.
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Bob Keropian, president of the NFF Northern California Chapter and former NFF West Region Coordinator, will be inducted into the Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame on June 8 at the Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae, Calif.
The NFF Jack Grinold/Eastern Massachusetts Chapter held its annual Coaches Clinic on April 2 at Boston College. A sellout crowd of 300 coaches were in attendance to listen to the speakers, which included Boston College offensive coordinator Scott Loeffler and defensive coordinator Jim Reid, Harvard offensive coordinator Joel Lamb and defensive coordinator Scott Larkee, Amherst (Mass.) head coach E.J. Mills and retired Maine head coach Jack Cosgrove. ESPN broadcasters Joe Tessitore and Danny Kanell, a 1995 NFF National Scholar-Athlete from Florida State, were on hand to cover BC's spring practice for and addressed the group.
The NFF New York City Chapter will hold its Elite Eleven Dinner on April 5 at the New York Athletic Club, honoring the top scholar-athletes in New York City and presenting New York Jets and former Central Florida wide receiver Brandon Marshall with its Accorsi Award for his work with
PROJECT 375
, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating the stigma surrounding mental illness and disorders.
The 56th NFF Casey-O'Brien/New Haven (Conn.) Chapter Scholar-Athlete Dinner will take place April 8 at Fantasia. Twenty-eight high school and prep school scholar-athletes will be honored.
The NFF Walter J. Zable/San Diego Chapter will hold its Scholar-Athlete Banquet on April 8 at the Scottish Rite Center in San Diego.
The NFF Gridiron Club of Dallas Chapter's Eighth Annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet will take place April 10 at the Marriott Quorum. Longtime Dallas sports talk radio staple Norm Hitzges will receive the 2016 Distinguished Texan Award, the chapter's highest honor, and new North Texas head coach Seth Littrell will be the guest speaker. A number of other awards will be presented to area football leaders. The chapter will also honor seven collegiate and a chapter-record 66 high school scholar-athletes.
The NFF National Capital (D.C.) Chapter will host its 10th Annual Scholar-Athlete Banquet on April 10 at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, Va. Army head coach Jeff Monken will give the keynote address. The Clermont Sun did a wonderful profile on John Hale, who will sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" at the event.
The NFF Western Massachusetts Chapter's 54th Scholar-Athlete Banquet will take place April 10 at the UMass Campus Center. 2015 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Blake Frohnapfel (UMass) will receive the chapter's Desmond "Tuss" McLaughry Award as the top collegiate student-athlete in Western Mass. U.S. Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts will be honored with the Butova Award.
The NFF Colorado Chapter Scholar-Athlete Banquet will be held on April 11 at the Denver West Marriott in Golden, Colo.
The NFF Utah Chapter will host its Scholar-Athlete Banquet on April 12 at the UCC Center on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.
The NFF Brian Piccolo (Fla.) Chapter will honor 45 players at its Scholar-Athlete Banquet April 13 at the Heron Bay Marriott in Parkland, Fla. Florida Atlantic head football coach Charlie Partridge will be the guest speaker.
At an April 16 brunch hosted by the NFF East Tennessee Chapter, Steve Spurrier, a College Football Hall of Fame player from Florida and longtime SEC head football coach, will receive the 2016 Robert Neyland Award. ESPN broadcaster Brent Musburger, a 2011 recipient of the NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award, will accept the 2016 Lindsey Nelson Broadcasting Award at the event. They will both be recognized later that day at the University of Tennessee's Orange and White Game.
The NFF Central Indiana Chapter's Scholar-Athlete Banquet is scheduled for April 16 at the Indianapolis Colts practice facility. New Ball State head football coach Mike Neu will be the guest speaker, and former Stanford and current Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, a 2008 NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete, will make a special
appearance. 2015 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Hank Spencer (Mount Union [Ohio]) will also be honored.
College Football Hall of Famer Chuck Cecil (Arizona) will be the keynote speaker at the NFF Southern Arizona Chapter's 19th Annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet April 17 in Tucson. The chapter recently announced the scholar-athletes who will be honored at the event.
The NFF Northern California Chapter, in conjunction with UCSF Sports Medicine and the PlaySafe Program, will offer baseline concussion testing for high school student-athletes on April 30. The pilot program will involve the South San Francisco High School varsity football program at the outset.
The NFF Emo DiNitto/Rhode Island Chapter will be holding its 29th Annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Dinner on May 2 at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, R.I. The chapter will recognize 28 scholar-athletes, including 12 Golden Dozen and 16 Silver honorees, for their outstanding academic and football achievements. Two of the Golden Dozen honorees will receive $1,000 scholarships, increasing the chapter's total grants to more than $140,000. The chapter will also honor its Distinguished American Louis Marciano, Contribution to Amateur Football Award recipient Ted Stebbins and Football Official Joseph Schwab.
The NFF Touchdown Club of Houston Chapter will hold its 50th Anniversary "Touchdowner of the Year" Banquet on May 4 at the Westin Galleria Ballroom. NFF Chairman and College Football Hall of Famer Archie Manning (Mississippi) will be the guest of honor. The chapter will host a Hall of Fame Golf Tournament the day before at Wildcat Golf Course.
The 41st annual NFF Jack Grinold/Eastern Massachusetts Chapter Scholar-Athlete Banquet will be held May 15 at the Boston/Newton Marriott. The banquet will feature 33 High School Scholar-Athlete honorees and the presentation of the Daly, Schluntz and Burton Awards. Boston College play-by-play announcer Jon Meter-Parel will return as the emcee.
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Scheduling
Colorado and Georgia Tech will meet for the first time in a home-and-home series in 2025 and 2026... BYU and Baylor agreed to a home-and-home series in 2021 and 2022... Arkansas State and Memphis have scheduled a four-game series... Memphis will open the 2018 season by hosting Mercer...
People
Brian Shannon, the faculty athletics representative at Texas Tech, was re-elected to serve a third, two-year term as president of the 1A Faculty Athletics Representatives... Howard Payne (Texas) announced that head football coach Hunter Sims will also serve as athletics director... Western Kentucky
has given a contract extension to athletics director Todd Stewart... The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced Tom Symonette as the coordinator of football officials...
Awards and Honors
Former All-American fullback
Roosevelt Potts has been elected to the Louisiana-Monroe L Club Hall of Fame... Recipients of the 2016 SEC Faculty Achievement Awards were announced...
Media
The Louisiana-Lafayette at Georgia Southern football game on Thursday, Nov. 10, will be featured on ESPNU...
Bowl Games
The Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl will be played on Saturday, Dec. 31, and serve as the lead-in game for the College Football Playoff Semifinals later that day... The 2017 Outback Bowl will be played on Monday, Jan. 2, at 1 p.m. ET...
Facilities
Virginia Tech announced it will rename its football locker room in honor of former coach Frank Beamer... Ohio State announced a proposed four-year, $42 million renovation project for Ohio Stadium... Students at West Texas A&M voted yes for a new on-campus stadium in an online vote of the student body... Eastern Kentucky announced details of its planned Roy Kidd Stadium expansion...
Donations
Former Youngstown State football player Jeff Ryan and his wife, Kate, have endowed an athletics scholarship at the university... Bobby and Barbara Campbell have donated $5 million for the Schmidt Family Complex for Academic and Athletic Excellence at Florida Atlantic... Florida A&M
unveiled its new "Investing in Champions" annual giving campaign...
Marketing and Uniforms
Texas A&M-Commerce
agreed to a multi-year institutional partnership with Under Armour ... Doane (Neb.) unveiled a set of newly designed logos and announced a multi-year agreement with Under Armour...
Community Service
Special Spectators, which creates unique-game-day experiences for seriously ill children and their families, has
launched a crowdfunding campaign on CrowdRise to raise funds to expand its efforts at college football games during the 2016 season...
Several members of the Iowa State football team saved a woman from drowning after she drove her car into a canal in South Padre Island, Texas, on March 16...
More News of Interest
Obituaries
Former Duke Vice President and Director of Athletics
Tom Butters
passed away March 31. He was 77... Former Oklahoma and Wichita State football player Bill Lalla passed away March 14. He was 69... Former San Jose State quarterback Bob Reinhart passed away March 19. He was 83... Longtime Bates (Maine) assistant football coach William "Chick" Leahey passed away March 26. He was 90... Hal Littleford, a co-captain of the 1949 Tennessee football team, passed away March 27. He was 91... Former Idaho football player and longtime high school football coach Melvin "Dutch" Kawasoe passed away March 29. He was 90... Former Western Illinois All-America football player Gehrig Dergo passed away March 31. He was 81... Former Boise State assistant coach Herb Criner passed away April 2. He was 81... Former Michigan State football player John "Thunder" Lewis Jr. passed away. He was 81... Former Temple football player George Curry, who would become the winningest high school football coach in Pennsylvania, passed away. He was 71...
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Join the NFF
Support amateur football by joining the NFF
today.
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Donate to the NFF
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Building Leaders Through Football
.
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April 27, 2016 - Announcement of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, recognizing the college football players from all divisions of play who maintained a 3.2 GPA or better during their collegiate careers - Irving, Texas
June 1, 2016 - 2017 College Football Hall of Fame Ballots distributed to members of the National Football Foundation - Irving, Texas
Sept. 28, 2016 - Announcement of the semifinalists for the 2016 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments and prominently displayed at the NYAC - Irving, Texas
Dec. 5, 2016
- Announcement and Presentation of the Asa S. Bushnell Cup to the Ivy League Football Players of the Year at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel at an event presented by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses - New York City
Dec. 6, 2016
- NFF Annual Awards Press Conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel - New York City
Dec. 6, 2016
- NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon, presented by Under Armour, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel - New York City
Dec. 6, 2016
- 59th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria - New York City, including the induction of the 2016 College Football Hall of Fame Class and the 27th presentation of the William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments and prominently displayed at the New York Athletic Club.
Dec. 31, 2016
- The 12th Annual NFF National Hall of Fame Salute during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl - Atlanta
Jan. 5, 2017
- NFF Leadership Hall of Fame Dinner - Tampa, Fla.
Jan. 6, 2017
- Announcement of the 2017 College Football Hall of Fame Class - Tampa, Fla.
Jan. 9, 2017
- College Football Playoff National Championship at Raymond James Stadium - Tampa, Fla.
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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, please contact
Phil Marwill
at 917.579.4256 or [email protected].
The NFF would like to thank NFF correspondent Bo Carter for his contributions to this report.
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