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🏈 Football Becomes Part Of You!

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Every week, the National Football Foundation highlights the people, stories and moments that demonstrate football’s impact beyond the field.
The ‘I Played’ initiative celebrates how the lessons learned through football continue to shape leaders long after their playing days are over.
Name: Christian Ponder
College: Florida State
Accomplishments: NFF William V. Campbell Trophy finalist
WATCH CHRISTIAN PONDER’S ‘I PLAYED’ VIDEO
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!
‘I PLAYED’ ROSTER
SHARE YOUR ‘I PLAYED’ STORY
Members who recently submitted their ‘I Played’ story:
  • Jeffrey Fette, West Virginia — Construction Code Enforcement/Plans Examiner, City of Hardeeville, S.C.
  • Thomas Freeman, Akron — Former Managing Partner of Grant Thornton’s Cleveland office
  • Brian Rolle, Ohio State — Engineer, 3S Incorporated
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 is one example of what makes the sport so meaningful!
. . .
“In that locker room, every day, you’re living with those guys, breathing with those guys, fighting with those guys, bleeding with those guys, it becomes a part of you. That’s something you never really lose. That’s why going from playing to coaching has continued to give me that feeling of togetherness.”
 
— Dennis Thurman, 2025 NFF College Football Hall of Fame inductee
NFF Updates gathers news from events happening within the National Football Foundation and celebrates individuals who have been honored by the organization.
More than 350 members of college football’s most accomplished leadership community will gather at Stanford University this week, not to relive their playing careers, but to continue learning, mentoring and investing in one another.
CLICK HERE to read more about the NFF Campbell Trophy Summit.
Bert Jones, a 2016 NFF College Football Hall of Fame inductee, will have his jersey retired Nov. 14 when LSU hosts Texas in Tiger Stadium.
CLICK HERE to read more about LSU honoring Jones this fall.
The NFF’s Good in the Game Podcast is part of the NFF’s ongoing conversation with leaders shaping the future of college football.
On the latest episode, host LaVar Arrington welcomes Kentucky Wildcat great and 2015 NFF College Football Hall of Fame inductee Art Still to talk about grit, humility, dominance and purpose. This is one you won’t want to miss!
WATCH NOW ON YOUTUBE
Here are stories the NFF is reading this week as we gear up for another memorable college football season.
Why former Vols QB Casey Clausen is bringing girls flag football to Tennessee
Knox News
Read Story
Middle Atlantic Conference Sponsoring Women’s Flag Football in 2026-27
Collegiate Flag Football
Read Story
Future Stars Shine at MEAC’s Girls on the Gridiron Clinic
MEAC
Read Story
How the SWAC is helping FAMU football tackle longstanding APR issues
Tallahassee Democrat
Read Story
  • Lee Burkart, who played collegiately at Alabama and later joined the Army Reserve, passed away July 6. He was 80.
  • Roy Cawley Jr., who played collegiately at Utah and later earned his MBA from UCLA, passed away July 7. He was 87.
  • Jim Corrigall, who played collegiately at Kent State and later served as the head coach at his alma mater from 1994-97, passed away July 15. He was 80.
  • Louis DiRienzo Jr., who was entering his first season as the defensive coordinator at Monmouth after serving as the linebackers coach in 2025, has passed away. He was 34.
  • Leon Fuller, the head coach at Colorado State from 1982-88, passed away July 11. He was 87.
  • Bruce Hendrickson, who played collegiately at Rice and lettered in 1956 for the Owls, passed away June 5. He was 89.
  • Pete Hurt, who played collegiately at Mississippi College before spending 48 years in the coaching ranks, including as the head coach at Samford University from 1994-2001, passed away July 11. He was 69.
  • Charles King, who played collegiately at Purdue and along with his brother Tony became the first African American brothers to play on the same NFL team at the same time, passed away July 13.
  • Jim Lindsey, who helped lead Arkansas to a national championship in 1964 and later was an influential philanthropist for the program, passed away July 19. He was 81.
  • Richard Marazzi, who authored “A Bowl Full of Memories: 100 Years of Football at the Yale Bowl,” and a longtime member of the NFF Casey/O’Brien New Haven County (CT) Chapter passed away July 12. He was 82.
  • Robert “Bob” “Mo” Mauterstock, who played both football and rugby at Princeton before serving as a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Navy, passed away July 13.
  • Ray Maxey, an All-American high school quarterback at Rio Grande High School (N.M.) in the mid-1960s before playing collegiately at New Mexico State and Western New Mexico, passed away July 4. He was 80.
  • Janice McNair, the co-founder of the NFL’s Houston Texans passed away July 14. She was 89.
  • Will Moon, a transformative supporter of Iowa football, passed away July 16. He was 64.
  • Lyle Setencich, the head coach at Boise State from 1983-86 whose time with the Broncos overlapped the installation of the blue turf, has passed away. He was 81.
  • Corey Sylve, a former Western Michigan team captain who led Broncos with 840 rushing yards in 1990 and 711 yards in 1991, passed away. He was 55.
  • Chuck Zimmerman, who played quarterback collegiately at Syracuse and led the Orange to two of the first bowl games in program history, passed away July 15. He was 90.

Join the Celebration of College Football’s Greatest Legends — December 8, 2026
SECURE YOUR TICKET!
July 23-25 — NFF Campbell Trophy¼ Summit at Stanford University
September 23 — Announcement of the 2026 NFF Campbell Trophy¼ Semifinalists
October 21 — Announcement of the 2026 NFF Campbell Trophy¼ 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 Trophy¼
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