Festival to Honor McPherson
6/23/2009 8:59:51 AM | Football
Former Syracuse All-American quarterback Don McPherson and the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2008 will be honored July 17-18 at the Enshrinement Festival in South Bend, Ind. Thousands of college football fans from across the country will join the NFF celebration at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., for the festival, which will pay tribute to the storied careers of 21 of the game's greatest stars and conclude with the grand finale Enshrinement Dinner & Show on July 18.
"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to enshrine another exceptional class of college football legends," said NFF President & CEO Steven J. Hatchell. "Each year our hard-working honors courts do an outstanding job ensuring the game's greatest players and coaches find their place on college football's mountain top. We look forward to celebrating in South Bend with this amazing class and their loyal fans from around the country."
The weekend's festivities will include a celebrity golf tournament, live concerts, a grand parade, a youth clinic, a fireworks spectacular with the celebration culminating with the Enshrinement Dinner & Show on Saturday night.
McPherson finished his SU playing career in 1987 with the program's all-time passing yards, completions and pass attempts records. After graduating, McPherson continued his football career with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Oilers. Upon retiring from pro football in 1994, McPherson joined Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society as director of Athletes in Service to America. During this time, McPherson turned his focus to the issue of “men's violence against women,” as director of Sport in Society's Mentors in Violence Prevention Program. McPherson has become one of the nation's leading educators and advocates for the prevention of men's violence against women and has been featured on Nightline and The Oprah Winfrey Show. He has conducted workshops and lectures for more than 200 college campuses, community organizations and national sports and violence prevention organizations, and was a facilitator at the first NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Conference in 1997. His programs and lectures have reached more than one million people.
“The College Football Hall of Fame is honored to host so many notable contributors to the game in South Bend, celebrating this tremendous accolade,” said College Football Hall of Fame Executive Director Lisa Klunder. “Enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame is a rare distinction shared by only the game's greatest stars, and our festival boasts a myriad of events to highlight this extraordinary achievement.”
Tickets for all events are on sale now. Space is limited for certain events. Contact Kristen Pflipsen at 547-235-5717 to purchase tickets or to obtain a media credential. A full list of events, pricing and times is available at www.collegefootball.org/enshrinement.
2009 Enshrinement Festival Schedule of Events
FRIDAY, JULY 17
ENSHRINEMENT CELEBRITY GOLF SCRAMBLE
Blackthorn Golf Club, South Bend, Ind.
ENSHRINEMENT DOWNTOWN BLOCK PARTY & FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR
Downtown South Bend
SATURDAY, JULY 18
ENSHRINEMENT FESTIVAL URBAN ADVENTURE RACE
Downtown South Bend
COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME GRAND PARADE
Downtown South Bend
ENSHRINEMENT FANFEST
Hall of Fame Gridiron Plaza
AUTOGRAPH SESSION WITH THE 2009 ENSHRINEMENT CLASS
College Football Hall of Fame Press Box
HALL OF FAMER PEP RALLY
Hall of Fame Gridiron Plaza
ENSHRINEMENT YOUTH FOOTBALL CLINIC
Hall of Fame Gridiron Plaza
ENSHRINEMENT DINNER AND SHOW
Century Center Convention Center
2009 FOOTBALL BOWL SUBDIVISION ENSHRINEMENT CLASS
Players
TROY AIKMAN – QB, UCLA (1987-88)
BILLY CANNON – RB, LSU (1957-59)
JIM DOMBROWSKI – OT, Virginia (1982-85)
PAT FITZGERALD – LB, Northwestern (1994-96)
WILBER MARSHALL – LB, Florida (1980-83)
RUEBEN MAYES – RB, Washington State (1982-85)
RANDALL McDANIEL – OG, Arizona State (1984-87)
DON McPHERSON – QB, Syracuse (1984-87)
JAY NOVACEK – TE, Wyoming (1982-84)
DAVE PARKS – SE, Texas Tech (1961-63)
RON SIMMONS – NG, Florida State (1977-80)
THURMAN THOMAS – RB, Oklahoma State (1984-87)
ARNOLD TUCKER – QB, Army (1944-46)
Coaches
JOHN COOPER – 192-84-6 (.691) – Tulsa (1977-84), Arizona State (1985-87), Ohio State (1988-2000)
LOU HOLTZ – 249-132-7 (.651) – William & Mary (1969-71), North Carolina State (1972-75), Arkansas (1977-83), Minnesota (1984-85), Notre Dame (1986-96), South Carolina (1999-2004)
2009 DIVISIONAL ENSHRINEMENT CLASS
Players
ROGER BROWN – Maryland-Eastern Shore, DT (1956-59)
FRED DEAN – Louisiana Tech, DT (1971-74)
SAM MILLS* – Montclair State (N.J.), LB (1977-80)
ROD SMITH – Missouri Southern State, WR (1988, 1990-93)
Coaches
VOLNEY ASHFORD* – 197-55-12 (.769); Missouri Valley (Mo.) (1937-71)
JIM DONNAN – 104-40-0 (.722); Marshall (1990-95), Georgia (1996-2000)
* Deceased
Founded in 1947, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame inducted its first class of inductees in 1951. The first class included 32 players and 19 coaches, including Illinois' Red Grange, Notre Dame's Knute Rockne, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Carlisle's Jim Thorpe. Out of the more than
4.6 million individuals who have played college football over the past 140 years, only 850 players and 184 coaches have been immortalized with a place in the sport's most hallowed institution.
279 schools are represented with at least one College Football Hall of Famer. The current building in South Bend, Ind. was built in 1995 as a $17 million state-of-the-art interactive facility for fans of all ages.
