4/1: Connecting Academics To Athletics

Good in the Game 4/1

April 01, 2025

Good morning, football fans! “As you guys know, I’m very passionate about women’s 7 on 7 flag football.”

The National Football Foundation and Ole Miss Athletics jointly honored Ron Rychlak, the Ole Miss Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR), with a celebratory NFF Faculty Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, March 27 during a special reception in the Starnes Athletics Training Center at Hollingsworth-Manning Hall.

Click here to read more about Rychlak’s honor!

Join us to celebrate college football legends such as Montee Ball, Graham Harrell, Michael Strahan, Michael Vick and many, many more at one of the sport's grandest traditions — the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas — Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at the iconic Bellagio Hotel & Casino.

The highlight of the Awards Dinner will be the induction of the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class, where 18 legendary players and four acclaimed coaches take their place amongst the greatest of all time. The inductees proudly represent every region of the country, 28 collegiate institutions, 11 conferences, and seven decades.

In the latest episode of the Good in the Game Podcast, host LaVar Arrington sits down with Jeff Galloway, head coach of the Hemet Bulldogs, the high school team that was recently named the 2025 recipient of the NFF Hatchell Cup. LaVar and Coach Galloway chat about coaching high school ball, teaching kids life lessons through football and what the game has meant to him in almost 30 years as a coach.

NFF chapters continue with a busy slate of events across the country, celebrating the best scholar-athletes from their respective regions. Collectively, the network will award more than $1 million in local scholarships this year while recognizing 3,500 high school and college student-athletes. Spanning 120 chapters in 47 states, the NFF Chapter Network serves as the heartbeat of a nationwide effort to promote amateur football and instill leadership, sportsmanship, and academic excellence among young players. The movement traces back to 1954, when the Cincinnati Club first discussed forming NFF chapters. Today, more than 12,000 passionate members continue that legacy, dedicated to Building Leaders Through Football. Together, they host more than 300 events annually, reaching 500,000 football players at 5,000 high schools.

Clockwise from the upper left corner:  1. The NFF Toledo-Wistert Chapter honored more than 50 high school seniors March 10 at their 63rd Annual Scholar-Athlete Banquet. 2. Mamaroneck High School (NY) boasted three student-athletes who were honored March 11 at the NFF Westchester Chapter Golden Dozen Awards Dinner. L-R: Mika Barry-Thouez, Coach Anthony Vitti, Kieran Jacobson, and Harlan Glassman. 3. The NFF Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley Chapter held their 53rd Scholar-Athlete Awards Dinner, honoring more than 40 top performers. 4. Coach Dick Purnell (center) is joined by former Penn State TE Jesse James (left) and NFF Central PA Chapter President Sam Phillips. Purnell, who was an All-America QB at Susquehanna University before winning 63.7 percent of his games during 25 years as a high school head coach, accepted the NFF Central PA Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award March 16.

Florida A&M head coach James Colzie III loves ball. Football, softball, it doesn’t matter!

📰: Former Florida Gator head football coach Urban Meyer brings ‘The Urban Edge’ to Booker High
Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Matt Stevens, a safety at Appalachian State in the mid-1990s before spending time in the NFL with five different organizations, including the 2001 Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, has passed away. He was 51.

Eugene ‘Chick’ Cichowski, who played collegiately at Indiana before playing for both Pittsburgh and Washington in the NFL from 1957-1959, has passed away. He was 90.

Norris Thomas, a cornerback at Southern Mississippi and a ninth round draft pick of the Miami Dolphins in the 1976 NFL Draft, has passed away. He was 70.

Olen Underwood, who won a national championship playing for the Texas Longhorns from 1961-64 and spent seven seasons in the NFL before dedicating his life to serving the State of Texas as a judge, has passed away. He was 82.

Kathy Saunders, the former KDFW-KDFI-TV SVP & General Manager in Dallas who became the first female chair of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, passed away March 26. She was 73.

Kenneth Sims, a 2021 College Football Hall of Fame inductee who starred as a defensive tackle at Texas from 1978-1981, passed away March 21 after battling an illness. He was 65.

Watch the video above, which was played during Sims’ induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2021.

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