CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FWAA) The Charlotte Touchdown Club today announced that Mike McCoy is the winner of the 2010 Bronko Nagurski Legends Award, which recognizes the "best of the best" of defensive football players from the past 40 years.
The award will be presented during the annual Bronko Nagurski Award Banquet Mon., December 6 at the Westin Hotel.
Mike McCoy was a consensus All-American at the University of Notre Dame where he graduated with a BA in Economics. McCoy was drafted by the Packers as the 2nd overall pick in the 1970 NFL Draft. McCoy, originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, contributed to the Packers winning the 1972 NFC Central Division, while also leading Green Bay in quarterback sacks in 1973 and 1976.
"I am humbled to receive this prestigious award and to be mentioned with some of the great defensive players of the past. I want to thank my family, my High School Coach Tony Zambroski, my line coach at Notre Dame, Joe Yonto, and my Notre Dame teammates for the impact each had on my life and career," commented Mike McCoy.
"Today, Mike McCoy is the honored recipient of the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award, but in the past he has received the Packers Rookie of the Year, All-Pro Player, Dodge NFL Man of the Year, and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Although these football achievements qualify the All-American for the award, the Football Writers Association of America feels that Mike's achievements off the field put him way above the other finalists," commented Steve Richardson, the Executive Director for the FWAA.
McCoy was appointed by President Reagan to the Council on Sports for a Drug Free America and former Pennsylvania Governor Thornburg to the Pennsylvania Council for Physical Fitness. McCoy served as the chaplain of the Atlanta Braves and currently serves on several community outreach boards.
The initial Legends award, sponsored by CSX Intermodal, was presented in 2007 to players from the 1966 season, the first year the FWAA All-American Teams were separated into defense and offense.
"It is an honor to carry on the tradition of the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award," said James R. Hertwig, President of CSX Intermodal. "Mike McCoy's outstanding contributions, both on and off the field, make him the ideal recipient of this year's award."
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is presented annually by the Charlotte Touchdown Club and Football Writers Association of America to the nation's most outstanding NCAA defensive football player. The Charlotte Touchdown Club also honors local college and high school football players and over the last decade has raised nearly $1,000,000 for student athletic scholarships throughout the Charlotte Metro Area.
The Bronko Nagurski Legends Award recipient will be officially announced on June 16th, with the award presented on Dec. 6th at the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Awards Banquet in Charlotte. FOR RESERVATIONS CALL 704-347-2918!
The Charlotte Touchdown Club is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization founded in 1991 for the purpose of promoting high school, collegiate, and professional football in the Charlotte, North Carolina region. The Club's activities and services focus community attention on the outstanding Citizenship, Scholarship, Sportsmanship, and Leadership of area athletes and coaches.
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,100 men and women across North America who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game day operations, major awards, a national poll and its annual All-America team.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association's official Web site, ncfaa.org.
For more information FWAA and its member and awards programs, contact Executive Director Steve Richardson (tiger@fwaa.com or 972-713-6198).