NFF Honors Brunch scheduled for June 12
The annual National Football Foundation's Joe Tiller Chapter of Northwest Indiana is moving full-speed ahead with a busy slate of events and projects for 2022. The emphasis is to provide recognition for scholar-athletes and community members who support them and to raise funds for charities.
While fund-raising is an ongoing project, the NFF Honors Brunch “Celebrating Our Legends XVIII” on June 12 at the Purdue Memorial Union Ballrooms in West Lafayette is the organization’s feature event.
It kicks off the busiest six-month stretch in history, including NFF Night with the Lafayette Aviators on July 13 at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette, the NFF Honors Reception on Sept. 8 at Town & Gown Bistro in West Lafayette, the Tyler Trent Golf Outing on Sept. 9 at Coyote Crossing Golf Club in West Lafayette and possible NFF-sponsored bus trips to NFL and/or Purdue games of interest.
The June 12 event will focus on 17 NFF scholar-athletes who were nominated by their schools throughout Northwest Indiana for the annual Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award and 33 Journal & Courier student-athletes nominated by high school athletics directors in the J&C coverage area. Also being honored are 11 J&C sport-by-sport players of the year selected by the J&C sports staff and 60 Indiana Football Coaches Association North All-Star nominees from Regions 1 and 4. Personalized certificates will be presented to each of these prep athletes who attends the Honors Brunch.
Along with the awards and recognition for the high school athletes, the Tiller Chapter will also present nine other awards, nominated and selected by chapter members and various entities, to recognize outstanding accomplishments. Some of these presentations will occur June 12 while others, including one Hall of Fame recognition, will take place at the NFF’s Honors Reception on Sept. 8 in conjunction with the Tyler Trent Golf Outing.
The entire list of awards are as follows:
● J&C Female & Male Student-Athletes of the Year — To Be Announced
● NFF Chapter Scholar-Athlete of the Year — To Be Announced
● Gold Medallion Award — Dr. Robert Hagen (posthumously)
● Arnette Tiller Service to Football Award — Sandra Dukes
● Todd Clark Outstanding Game Official Award — Trent Johnson
● Bernie Flowers Contribution to Amateur Sports Award — Nate Barrett
● Leroy Keyes Legends Award — Tim Newton
● Purdue For Life Impact Award — Alan Karpick and Tom Schott
● Patrick Mackey Courage Award — Wade Peters
● Tyler Trent Courage and Resilience Award — (TBD)
● Distinguished American Award — Drew Brees
● Drew Brees Mental Toughness Award — Aidan O’Connell
● Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductee — John Hendryx (June)
● Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductee — Kevin O’Shea (June)
● Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductee — Alex Yunevich (June - posthumously)
● Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductee — Kyle Orton (September)
High school honorees
The NFF scholar-athletes’ names and high schools, as nominated by their schools, are: Robby Ballentine (Andrean), Justin Brady (Central Catholic), Cooper Crum (Harrison), Brendan Day (Winamac), Tate Drone (Rensselaer), Tanner Hampton (North Judson), Seth Ireland (North Miami), Kalvin Jones (Delphi), Hayden Lewter (Hammond Morton), Parker Minks (Clinton Prairie), Chris Mullen (Chesterton), Austin Pickett (Fountain Central), Brady Preston (Lafayette Jeff), Brice Rider (West Lafayette), John Schnerre (McCutcheon), Samuel Smith (Caston) and Payton Stark (Tri-County).
The Journal & Courier Female Nominees for Student-Athlete of the Year are: Sydney Argo (Faith Christian), Emma Beimfohr (Harrison), Cailin and Catie Campbell (North Montgomery), Shelbey Carrico (McCutcheon), Kendall Davison (Clinton Central), Caitlin Dineen (Central Catholic), Cayci Ehlinger (North Newton), Lynzi Heimlich (North White), Jerzi Hershberger (Fountain Central), Adelle May (Carroll), Tynlie Neal (Clinton Prairie), Michelle Rodkey (Rossville), Tressa Senesac (Benton Central), Riley Shrader (Seeger), Alli Steffey (West Lafayette), Brynn Warren (Tri-County) and Shea Williamson (Crawfordsville).
The Journal & Courier Male Nominees for Student-Athlete of the Year are: Connor Barket (West Lafayette), Blake Buchanan (Benton Central), Cooper Crum (Harrison), Logan Doty (Tri-County), Will Eldridge (Carroll), Brody Fine (McCutcheon), Ian Hensley (Crawfordsville), Jakob Kirsch (North Montgomery), Carter Merryman (Fountain Central), Preston Padgett (Rossville), Kyle Pickard (Clinton Central), Brady Preston (Lafayette Jeff), Breckon Riley (Clinton Prairie), Parker Smith (North White) and Raymond Tharp (North Newton).
The Journal & Courier Players of the Year goes are: Clark Barrett (Central Catholic/basketball and football), Javan Buchanan (Lafayette Jeff/basketball), Karsyn Cherry (Central Catholic/soccer), Chloe Chicoine (McCutcheon/volleyball), Jordan Cree (Rensselaer/football), Teresa Maggio (McCutcheon/basketball), Tynlie Neal (Clinton Prairie/basketball), Hunter Newman (Harrison/football), Mariere Omonode (West Lafayette/football), Austin Pacheco (West Lafayette/soccer) and Grace Roach (Central Catholic/volleyball).
All 60 students who were selected as all-stars for the North team — some of them invited to this event for other awards and honors — are invited to this Honors Brunch and will receive certificates, if they attend. That entire list can be found at www.ifca.net.
In addition, the event will feature presentations and interviews with Purdue Head Football Coach Jeff Brohm and former Major League Baseball pitcher Clayton Richard.
Table prices for a table of eight ($520 for general public, $440 for NFF chapter members and honorees’ families, and $360 for students). Single tickets are $65 for public, $55 for members and $45 for students. Price for the Honors Reception Sept. 8 are $30 each for Orton’s induction into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.
As a non-profit organization, this chapter has awarded nearly $260,000 in grants, scholarships and honorariums plus another $78,000 to other charities since receiving its charter in the fall of 2004.
Besides seeking donations and sponsorships to support the scholarship program, the chapter also receives money ($500 for every 50 dues-paying members in the local chapter) from the national office in Irving, Tex. In its first 17 years, this chapter has recognized 391 scholar-athletes and awarded them between $200 and $5,700 each.
The tax-deductible membership dues are $60 per year or $150 for three years, payable to the National Football Foundation. The NFF has 121 chapters and more than 10,000 members, nationally, and awards more than $1.3 million in scholarships each year. The chapter is seeking partners and sponsors for scholarship packages, which are also tax-deductible.
For more information, contact Jim Vruggink at 3672 Farnsworth Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47906, email jvruggink@purdue.edu or call at 765-427-3303.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: NFF Honors Brunch scheduled for June 12
