McPherson Will Be Honored on Legends Day

Former Syracuse football great and 2008 National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame inductee Don McPherson will be honored as part of Syracuse’s Legends Day on Saturday, November 1 when the 2008 Orange host Louisville in the Carrier Dome (7:00 p.m., ESPNU). Tickets for the game are available online (suathletics.com) and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (888-DOMETIX).

McPherson will be inducted into the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame in December at the annual NFF Hall of Fame Dinner. McPherson was introduced as a member of the Class of 2008 in May. The great tradition of Syracuse football lives and breathes in the halls of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame with 14 former Orange student-athletes, including Ernie Davis, Tim Green, Jim Brown, Larry Csonka and Floyd Little.

Being honored for his unique athletic ability is nothing new for McPherson. The 1987 All-American finished second in the 1987 Heisman Trophy balloting, won the Maxwell Award, which honors the college football player of the year, the Davey O’Brien Award, which recognizes the best collegiate quarterback, and was the first recipient of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. McPherson led the nation in passing efficiency with a 164.3 mark and set 22 Syracuse records, including the single-season marks for passing yards per game (212.8), touchdown passes (22), and most consecutive games with a touchdown pass (10). He led the 1987 Orange to an undefeated regular season (11-0) and a No. 4 final ranking.

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.

McPherson works in the SU athletics department with the Life Skills program for student-athletes and as a consultant with the Orange Club. He is also an independent consultant and vice president of The Hopewell Group, Inc., a philanthropic advising and consulting company located in New York City. Previously, McPherson served as Executive Director of the Sports Leadership Institute at Adelphi University, which he founded in 2002. For more than 20 years, McPherson has used the power and appeal of sport to address complex social issues.

McPherson is also an experienced broadcaster. He is a studio analyst for SNY college football programs, including its comprehensive coverage of the BIG EAST Conference. He has also had stints as a college football analyst for ESPN, BET, NBC and XM Satellite Radio. In 2000, while a board member of the Nassau County Sports Commission, McPherson created the John Mackey Award, which recognizes college football’s most outstanding tight end.

He has served in a consulting and advisory capacity for several national organizations and currently sits on the board of directors of the Family and Children’s Association, Stop It Now! and the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Syracuse University Athletics

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