National Football Foundation Honors Wittenberg
Alumnus Fred Mitchell With Annual Award In His Name
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
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Fred Mitchell '69 |
The annual award will go to the nation's top collegiate kicker among the approximately 150 NCAA Division II and 240 NCAA Division III football programs. A blue-ribbon selection committee, which includes nine members of the professional and/or college football halls of fame, will evaluate kickers nominated by the institutions.
The winner will be announced at the annual National Football Foundation Chicago Metro Chapter Awards ceremony, which takes place annually in February. A college tuition scholarship, with financial support primarily provided by corporate and individual donations, will be presented to the recipient's university.
"I am honored and humbled to have my name associated with this new national award, which annually will recognize excellence on the football field by kickers from non-BCS schools, as well as true commitment to community service," said Mitchell, who previously served nine years on Wittenberg's alumni board and has been a member of the university's board of directors since 2008. "Plus, this is another opportunity for me to espouse the many virtues of Wittenberg University on a national basis as both a superior athletic and academic institution."
Mitchell has written nine books, including Billy Williams: My Sweet-Swinging Lifetime With The Cubs, an autobiography he helped Williams write, and Sayers: My Life And Times, an autobiography of Hall of Fame Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers. The Gary, Ind. native built on his experience as sports editor of The Torch and Wittenberg's yearbook during his collegiate years to enjoy tremendous success at one of America's iconic newspapers. The All-American Football Foundation even named him Outstanding Sportswriter of the Year in 2000.
Mitchell was a groundbreaking football player as well, one of the first placekicking specialists in the college game between 1965 and 1968. As a collegian, Mitchell set an NCAA College Division record for career points by scoring, in addition to 12 school records and five Ohio Athletic Conference marks. His school record of 106 career extra points held up for 30 years, while his record of 166 career points by kicking lasted for more than 20 years.
A 1995 Wittenberg Athletics Hall of Honor inductee, Mitchell has given back to his university in a variety of ways. In recent years, he has hosted groups of communication students when they visit Chicago, providing a tour of the Chicago Tribune offices and taking time to answer their questions and provide professional insights.
He has also been active in the National Football Foundation, a 51-year-old organization dedicated to promoting and developing the power of amateur football, and with various other philanthropic activities in the Chicago area. Chris Kearney, the Fred Mitchell Award selection committee chairman and president of the Chicago Metro chapter of the National Football Foundation, said he feels that this is a most appropriate honor for the former Wittenberg standout.
"The Fred Mitchell Award honors people that rarely receive national recognition, namely kickers at Division II and III colleges that are top performers on the gridiron and in their community," he said. "The quality of the selection committee is a tribute to Fred Mitchell and also to the importance of honoring student-athletes that tend to be under the radar."
Written By: Ryan Maurer
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