What do we have included in this week’s National Football Foundation Footballetter?

🏈 Campbell Trophy winner tells his ‘I Played’ story
🏈 Hear from Montee Ball on what’s good in the game
🏈 NFF College Hall of Famer Robert Gallery joins the podcast
🏈 And much more!

College football players are members of the greatest fraternity in the world. Check out the National Football Foundation’s ‘I Played’ roster and submit your story to join today!

Members who recently submitted their ‘I Played’ story: 

• Jay Knowles, Hugh Boyd HS (BC, Canada) — Protection Services Supervisor, Vancouver Island Health Authority

• Adam LaFollette, Earlham College (IN) — Regional Sales Manager, Riddell

• James Mesidor, Austin Peay — Police Major, Florida International University Police Department

• Patrick Porter, Kentucky — Chief Human Resources Officer, Resolve Marine

Name: Thomas Burns
College: University of Virginia
Accomplishments: 1993 William V. Campbell Trophy Recipient

There are good things happening all over the game of football. The National Football Foundation has asked individuals to share an example of something they see happening within our sport that is good for the game. Here are their answers!

. . .

“One thing I love seeing is that our alumni programs across the country are really strengthening. We see guys who struggle on their way out, so we are rallying together and we have way more programs than we had 10, 15 years ago. We have this giant fraternity, and guys are really helping other guys move forward in their lives.”

— Montee Ball, 2025 NFF College Football Hall of Fame inductee

Minnesota Chapter Honors Scholar-Athletes

The NFF Minnesota Chapter hosted its annual awards event April 19 at Huntington Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus, honoring more than a dozen local high school and college student-athletes. Jenny Taft (center), a native of Edina, Minnesota, accepted the 2026 Sid Hartman Media Award, recognizing her outstanding work as a college football sideline reporter with FOX Sports. Several NFF College Football Hall of Fame inductees also joined the honorees for the photo, including Greg Eslinger, Blake Elliott, Bob Stein and Randall McDaniel.

Mountain Empire Chapter
Honors Scholar-Athletes

The NFF Mountain Empire (TN) Chapter hosted its 12th annual awards ceremony on April 25, presenting scholarship awards to 21 high school football student-athletes from across Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The chapter also honored several local legends, including Ermal Allen, who played and coached at Kentucky, Julius Jones, an All-American at Notre Dame before his NFL career, and Daniel Kilgore, who starred at Appalachian State before his NFL career.

In the most recent episode of the NFF Podcast, host LaVar Arrington sits down with Robert Gallery. From Masonville farm kid to Outland Trophy winner, No. 2 overall pick, and College Football Hall of Famer, Gallery’s football résumé is the stuff of legend. But as he tells Arrington, the real story didn’t begin until the helmet came off. In this powerful conversation, Gallery opens up about the depression, anxiety, brain fog, and darkness that followed his NFL career — the part players are never supposed to admit out loud.

• Warren Belin, who played and coached at Wake Forest, has passed away.

• Don Botelho, who played collegiately at Hawaii, has passed away. He was 93.

• Laurence Boynton, who played collegiately at Syracuse, has passed away. He was 73.

• Timothy Bush, who played collegiately at West Virginia, has passed away. He was 77.

• James Chapman, who played collegiately at Utah State, has passed away. He was 91.

• Thomas Corontzos, who played collegiately at Wyoming, has passed away. He was 56.

• Bob Eisbach, who played collegiately at Iowa, has passed away. He was 76.

• Tuffy Fletcher, who played collegiately at Texas A&M, has passed away. He was 82.

• Malcolm Lowder, who played collegiately at NC State, has passed away. He was 93.

• Josh Mauro, who played collegiately at Stanford, has passed away. He was 35.

• Gregory Rodgers, who played collegiately at Rice, has passed away. He was 79.

• Beau Starr, who played collegiately at Hofstra and later in the NFL before appearing in films such as “Goodfellas”, two “Halloween” movies and “Fletch”, has passed away. He was 81.

• Bill Swain, who played collegiately at Oregon, has passed away. He was 85.

• Timothy Temple, who played collegiately at Oregon, has passed away. He was 81.

• Voi Tunuufi, who played collegiately at Washington, has passed away. He was 23.

• Clyde Werner, who played collegiately at Washington, has passed away. He was 78.

• George Whitton, who played collegiately at Georgia, has passed away. He was 89.

June 1 — Release of the 2027 NFF College Football Hall of Fame Ballot

June 16 — Announcement of the 2026 NFF High School Team of Distinction

July 23-25 — NFF Campbell Trophy® Summit at Stanford University

September 23 — Announcement of the 2026 NFF Campbell Trophy® Semifinalists

October 21 — Announcement of the 2026 NFF Campbell Trophy® Finalists

December 8 — 68th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas at Bellagio Resort & Casino

December 8 — Announcement of the winner of the 37th NFF William V. Campbell Trophy®

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