Good in the Game 8/6

Good morning, football fans! You have found the newest edition of the weekly Good in the Game newsletter — we’ll be here each Tuesday morning keeping you up to date on everything happening at the National Football Foundation, as well as pointing out all the good that is happening in the game we love.

The National Football Foundation descended upon Silicon Valley the last week of July for the Seventh Annual William V. Campbell Trophy Summit, with more than 280 attendees from 133 colleges and universities in town to perpetuate the ethos that helped Bill Campbell become one of the most influential business leaders of his generation.

Headline speakers at this year’s event included Sam Acho (ESPN analyst, 2010 Campbell Trophy recipient from Texas), Nikesh Arora (Palo Alto Networks CEO), Greg Johnson (Intuit executive vice president and former Air Force two-time all-conference halfback), Joe Moglia (former TD Ameritrade chairman & CEO and Coastal Carolina head coach), Brad D. Smith (Marshall University president and former Intuit Chairman & CEO) and Jeremy Utley (Stanford d.school Executive Education Director).

What is the William V. Campbell Trophy Summit? The event serves as a vehicle for the many leaders impacted by Campbell to pass on his insights about success, leadership and personal growth, and gives past Campbell Trophy nominees the chance to interact and learn from many of the nation’s top entrepreneurs and Silicon Valley CEOs.

🏈 Read more about the Seventh Annual William V. Campbell Trophy Summit

A pair of College Football Hall of Famers from the Naval Academy are set to have their jerseys retired at halftime of Navy’s season-opener against Bucknell on Aug. 31!

Ron Beagle, a 1956 graduate of the Naval Academy and 1986 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, and Bob Reifsnyder, a 1959 graduate and 1997 inductee, represent a highly successful era of Navy Football that included Sugar and Cotton Bowl victories and a dominant record against Army.

🏈 From Navy Athletics: Navy to Retire the Jerseys of Ron Beagle and Bob Reifsnyder

Casey Wasserman, the Wasserman chairman and CEO and member of the NFF Board of Trustees, joined CNBC recently to discuss his role as chairman of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles — give it a listen!

We recognized quite a few of the inductees of the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past weekend! Of the seven newest members, five are members (or soon-to-be members) of the College Football Hall of Fame — Dwight Freeney (Syracuse), Randy Gradishar (Ohio State), Steve McMichael (Texas), Julius Peppers (North Carolina) and Patrick Willis (Mississippi)!

It’s a rare occurrence to have that much overlap — of the 377 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees, only 153 have also been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

COME JOIN US IN LAS VEGAS!

The 66th Annual National Football Foundation Awards Dinner will be here before we know it, and tickets are going fast — buy yours now to ensure you get the NFF discounted rate!

🏈 Buy your tickets now

Kansas running back Devin Neal continues to choose his community.

After the Lawrence native chose to play for his hometown Jayhawks over dozens of other offers, Neal recently sponsored a three-hour giveaway of school supplies to boys and girls at Prairie Park Elementary School.

📰: How Kansas football RB Devin Neal is giving back — to the community and his teammates
^{Kansas City Star}

It seems like just about everyone is In The Game™️ — EA Sports has announced that over 5 million unique players joined in and played EA Sports College Football 25 during the first week of its release!

📰: ‘College Football 25’ Racks Up Record 5 Million Players In First Week As EA Beats Wall Street Estimates For June Quarter
^Variety

Kansas State coaches used to call Austin Moore “The Machine” because he never showed any emotion at practice.

Now, they refer to him as “The Machine” because the former walk-on tackles everything in sight on Saturdays for the Wildcats.

📰: How tackling machine Austin Moore became Kansas State’s latest walk-on success story
^{Kansas City Star}

“When you’re building a team, you can build it on the field, but you also want to build it off it,” said Greenville High School (MS) Hornets head coach George Richardson.

That’s exactly what the team is doing by distributing school supplies and food in memory of former Hornet, Auburn Tiger and NFL standout Quentin Groves.

📰: Greenville HS Football Builds Team By Serving Community
^{Delta News}

George M. Weiss, the 2014 NFF Gold Medal recipient and an emeritus member of the NFF Board of Trustees, has passed away. He was 82.

"George Weiss played a pivotal role in the history of the NFF over six decades, becoming one of our most influential leaders," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "His passion for our mission and his love of the game led him to a deep appreciation for the NFF and our ability to protect and promote the game. He became a trusted advisor to me personally, and I am forever grateful for his insights and perspective on the history of our organization. We are deeply saddened by his passing and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Nancy, children Lauren and Doug, and his entire family."

Bob Marcum, who served as the athletic director at Kansas, South Carolina, Massachusetts and Marshall, has passed away. He was 87.

Tynes Hildebrand, the legendary Northwestern State coach and administrator and decades-long cornerstone of NSU Athletics, has passed away. He was 93.

Sam Acho, an ESPN analyst, author and 2010 William V. Campbell Trophy recipient (Texas), spoke at the 7th Annual Campbell Trophy Summit about how small actions can lead to big changes — give it a watch below!

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