D1 College Football News

June 11, 2007

Source: The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, Inc.


College Hall of Fame Museum News

The College Football Hall of Fame unveiled its audio tour last Thursday, which provides in-depth commentary of 24 areas and exhibits throughout the Hall. The ribbon cutting ceremony took place at the entrance ramp to the museum, followed by the opportunity to tour the Hall using this new dimension of interaction.

The Hall will also open its newest exhibit on June 13. "Hollywood Huddles" will showcase memorabilia from football-themed movies of the past, such as Rudy, Brian's Song and Friday Night Lights. For information on the audio tour or Hollywood Huddles, please visit www.collegefootball.org.

Two-Minute Drill

Student-athlete class attendance and participation at Georgia improved drastically during the spring semester after director of athletics Damon Evans issued mandatory fines of $10 and possible game suspensions for unexcused class absences. In a three-week period in January, student- athletes missed only 46 classes, a 90% drop from the 421 over a three-week period in September... Penn State sold out of its more than 21,000 student season tickets in a record 59 minutes. The Nittany Lions will renew their series with Virginia, starting in the 2012 season. PSU also kicked off its second Penn State Football Fantasy Camp last week, inviting twenty-nine Lions' fans across the country to live the life of a PSU football player for four days... Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins will make a special appearance at the "Band on the Bricks" concert series on June 13. Hawkins also recently joined other college football mentors from around the state, including Northern Colorado's Scott Downing and Air Force's Troy Calhoun, at the annual Springs Sports Corp Football Kickoff Luncheon. PGA standout and former Buffalo All- America Hale Irwin spoke at CU's graduation ceremonies this year... Longtime Iowa State, Washington State and Wyoming head coach Jim Walden spoke at the Wyoming Chapter banquet. Current Cowboys head coach Joe Glenn also attended... Georgia Tech is providing Yellow Jackets' athletic gear for ticket purchasers who renew their '07 season tickets online... Former UCLA QB Troy Aikman is campaigning to inform men about migraine headaches... South Carolina football student-athletes showed their support for young cancer patients by walking in the Camp Kemo Kids Mardi Gras Parade... Texas QB Colt McCoy, Texas A&M QB Stephen McGee and TCU DE Tommy Blake are featured on the over of the 48th annual edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine... Former Oregon State standout and current Cincinnati Bengals' WR Chad Johnson edged thoroughbred Restore the Roar in a 1/16 mile charity race in Cincinnati last Saturday. Johnson, who was spotted a 100-meter lead, used his winnings to make a donation to Feed the Children... North Carolina signee Greg Little is one of eight student-athletes featured in ESPN's 12- week "Summer House" program, hosted by ESPN analyst and former Ohio State All-America Chris Spielman... Florida A&M and Southern will play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference-Southwestern Athletic Conference Challenge on Sept. 1 at Birmingham's Legion Field... Former Fighting Irish All-America Aaron Taylor received the Moose Krause Chapter's Distinguished American Award in South Bend... The SEC distributed $122 million to its members for 2006-07... Conference USA reported that the distribution of revenues was at its highest level since the conference formed in 1995.

As many as 30 former Heisman Trophy winners will attend the inaugural HWA (Heisman Winners Association) Weekend June 28-July 1 in Austin. The event, which will take place at the Barton Creek Resort & Spa, will play tribute to College Football Hall of Famers John David Crow (Texas A&M) and Earl Campbell (Texas). The association is chaired by NFF board member and two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

Florida head coach Urban Meyer agreed to a new six-year, $3.25 million deal with the Gators... Montana State hired Rob Ash as its new head football coach... Longtime Fiesta Bowl volunteer Janie Riddle was named new president of the NFF's Valley of the Sun Chapter... Syracuse running backs coach Desmond Robinson has been named assistant AD for football operations.

XM Satellite Radio signed a multiyear agreement with Fox Sports, becoming the exclusive satellite radio network of the BCS National Championship Game as well as other BCS games beginning in Jan. 2008... The Southeastern Conference is exploring the idea of launching its own TV network within the next two to three years... The Big 12 Conference and FSN have reached an agreement to allow VERSUS to carry selected games involving league squads in 2007... South Florida has signed a 10-year multimedia broadcast and marketing agreement with ISP Sports and ESPN Regional.