8/12: Football Is In The Air!

Good in the Game 8/12

August 12, 2025

You can smell the football in the air — the 2025 Preseason FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll has been released! Texas dominated the preseason poll with 27 of 57 first place votes, marking the Longhorns' fifth all-time appearance at No. 1 in the poll and the fifth straight year an SEC team claimed the top spot in the preseason poll.

Defending national champion Ohio State finished second in the poll with 11 first place votes and 53 points behind Texas. The Buckeyes have appeared in the poll 148 times since 2014, second most behind only Alabama's 151 appearances.

🏈 Click here to see the entire 2025 Preseason FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame have announced that Rob Mullens, the Director of Athletics at the University of Oregon, will be the recipient of the 2025 NFF John L. Toner Award! He will officially be honored Dec. 9 during the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino.

🏈 Click here to learn more about the NFF John L. Toner Award and this year’s winner, Oregon’s Rob Mullens

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame have also announced the five individuals who will be recognized with 2025 NFF Legacy Awards during the 67th Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 9! This year’s honorees are:

  • Norma Dean, Delta Air Lines Director of Specialty Sales

  • Steve Richardson, Football Writers Association of America Executive Director

  • Langston Rogers, Ole Miss Special Assistant to the Athletics Director for History

  • C. Paul Rogers III, SMU Dedman School of Law Professor of Law

  • Gary P. Stokan, Peach Bowl, Inc., CEO & President

🏈 Click here to learn more about the NFF Legacy Awards and this year’s recipients

In the latest episode of the Good in the Game Podcast, host LaVar Arrington sits down with long time friend, VP of NFL Football Development Roman Oben! LaVar and Roman discuss how the game has helped him in his career, the 2002 Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Bucs, being the first Cameroon player drafted in the NFL and what he wants his legacy to be!

Join us to celebrate college football legends at one of the sport's grandest traditions!

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.

Thanks, Big Ten! It was a pleasure working with you to promote the scholar-athlete ideal by celebrating the nine past recipients of the William V. Campbell Trophy from Big Ten schools during Big Ten Media Days!

There is an exciting new collaboration between the Aer Lingus College Football Classic and the Irish Wolfhounds National Flag Football teams!

John Wolfgram, the president of the NFF Howie Vandersea State of Maine Chapter, passed away Aug. 5. He was 77.  A legendary high school coach in Miane, Wolfgram won 10 state titles and 309 games during his career.

Billy Howton, a First Team All-American for the Rice Owls in 1951 who caught 13 touchdowns as a rookie for the Green Bay Packers and became the first player to catch 500 career passes, has passed away. He was 95.

Name: Terry Baggett, 2014 NFF National Scholar-Athlete
High School: Whitney Young (Chicago, Ill.)
College: Army

How has football impacted your life?
“My college football coach would say, ‘Nobody cares how you feel, how practice was, how hard it was. They care that you win on Saturday.’ For the most part, I think that’s true outside of football, too. My classmates in business school cared that I added value in the classroom. The company I’m at now hired me because they care about me executing.”

Share your football story with us! We want to know what football means to you, the lessons you learned, and the opportunities it provided.

“As we set expectations for the rest of our lives, there’s no excuse not to be great.”

— Ronnie Lott, Hall of Fame safety

August 23 – Week Zero Games

September 24 — Announcement of the 2025 Campbell Trophy® Semifinalists

October 22 — Announcement of the 2025 Campbell Trophy® Finalists and the 2024 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments

December 7 — 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas at Bellagio Resort & Casino

December 7 — Announcement of the winner of the 36th NFF William V. Campbell Trophy® during the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas

January 19, 2026 — CFP National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida

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