Following World War II, Americans were anxious to return to normalcy. A big part of that came in embracing college football on Saturday afternoons. The nation and college campuses were filled with returning veterans looking to obtain a degree and get on with their lives.
This was before the television and mass media initiatives of today, so the game also flourished at the grassroots level and experienced remarkable growth.
In 1947, Army head coach Red Blaik, war hero Gen. Douglas McArthur, and legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice met and laid the groundwork for the National Football Foundation (NFF).
The first HOF class was inducted in 1951. The awards annual banquet began in 1954 and has been a big date on the December calendar ever since, except for one year when COVID caused a shutdown of the Hilton Hotel where the NFF hosted its banquet.
The University of Georgia has had 21 of its former players and coaches inducted into this august group, and those affiliated with the UGA chapter of the NFF are working diligently to promote the candidacy of George Patton, a two-time All-American who was the cornerstone of the Vince Dooley era.
The NFF for years held its annual induction banquet at the Waldorf Astoria in midtown Manhattan. In 1975, William C. Hartman, then chairman of the Georgia Student Educational Fund, took an associate to the Foundation induction banquet and continued throughout his life.
After a couple of years, Hartman began buying a table and inviting several Georgia friends and supporters to attend the banquet. For a few years, this became an annual excursion for several of UGA’s most enthusiastic supporters.
From those casual and informal outings, a chapter was formed, with its first awards gathering taking place in 1986 at the Athens Country Club. From that loosely organized beginning and with Hartman and GSEF underwriting any budget shortfalls, the Chapter experienced a trial-and-error existence until it firmed up a volunteer board of directors and created a golf outing that enabled the chapter to grow and expand until it became the largest chapter in the country, a ranking it has retained the last dozen years or so.
Headliner college head coaches, National Football League stars, and media celebrities have all attended at one time, including UGA’s Kirby Smart; Bob Stoops, Oklahoma; Archie Manning, Ole Miss; Rick Neuheisel, former head coach and now CBS college football analyst; Ron Jaworski of Monday Night Football; Mike Tirico, NBC play-byplay announcer; comedian Jeff Foxworthy; Holly Rowe, ESPN sideline announcer, and former players such as Herschel Walker and Terry Hoage.
Last week, the Georgia Chapter hosted its 39th annual awards dinner honoring local son Michael Thurmond, dean of the Terry College of Business, for his distinguished political and community service career, Ben Ayers with its Distinguished American Award, and Long Island, NY’s Jonathan Taylor was recognized for his “contribution to amateur football.”
Julie Moran, a Thomasville native and UGA magna cum laude graduate, was the keynote speaker and provided insights into some interesting events from her broadcast career. An athlete herself, Moran made the All-State basketball team in high school at Brookwood Academy in Thomasville and is being nominated by the University of Georgia for induction to the State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
A woman of firsts, Moran’s credits include co-founding NBC Sports’ “Inside Stuff” with Ahmad Rashad, and later becoming the first-ever female sideline announcer for Dick Vermeil and Brent Musberger. She was also the first woman to have an NBA trading card, and with “Inside Stuff” being inducted into the Naismith NBA Hall of Fame, she will soon be receiving an NBA Hall of Fame ring.
Moran is also the first woman to solo host ABC’s Wide World of Sports, later shifting to an assignment with “Entertainment Tonight” in New York and Los Angeles. She left “Entertainment Tonight” to raise her daughters, Makayla and Maiya, and now teams with her husband, Rob Moran, to own and operate Silver Fox Productions, producing movies and documentaries. Their production company is named for her grandfather, Sterling Dupree, Vince Dooley’s first recruiting coordinator.
Fred Butler of Athens Coca-Cola Co. presented the Coca-Cola Helping Hand Award to Shawonna Coleman of the Athens Boys and Girls Club. Jesse Hickey of the Turner Family Foundation presented the Jack Turner Award to Georgia’s overachieving defensive back, Dan Jackson.
Tony Ferguson of Georgia Power recognized two local public high schools — Cedar Shoals and Clarke Central — for their work with Play It Smart, an NFF program which provides support for academically at-risk student-athletes; and the MVPs from Cedar Shoals and Clarke Central — Taiwan Green and Corey Watkins, respectively — were awarded scholarships from Synovus Bank, hosted by John Tebeau.
Five former Georgia players — Hap Hines, David Jacobs, Clint Boling, Jeff Hipp, and Orson Prince-Charles — also were honored for post-graduate achievement, sponsored by board member John Parker in memory of his parents, Reid and Cynthia Parker. Lawton Stephens, a trustee of the Francis Wood Wilson Foundation, saluted Northeast Georgia high school scholar athletes Jaiden Nelson, Clarke Central; Aiden Rainey, West Hall; Jonah Burger, Franklin County; Charlie Bradshaw, Chestatee; and Parker Crawford Grow, Athens Academy.