INDIANAPOLIS---Six former student-athletes have been named recipients of the 2010 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.
The Silver Anniversary Award annually recognizes six distinguished former student-athletes on the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of their college athletics careers. The 2010 recipients are: orthopedic physician Gregg Carr; NFL head coach Jack Del Rio; ABC/ESPN analyst Doug Flutie; former Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee; coach and speaker Maureen O’Toole-Purcell; and foundation president and chairwoman Deb Richard.
The 2010 Silver Anniversary Award winners will be recognized in January during the Honors Celebration at the 2010 NCAA Convention in Atlanta. Following are biographies on each recipient:
Gregg Carr
Auburn University
Football
Civil engineering
Orthopedic physician
Collegiate achievements
- Four-year letter-winner and all-American at linebacker
- Led Auburn in tackles for three seasons
- Helped the Tigers compile a 29-8 mark, post three bowl victories and capture an SEC title
- Named to Auburn’s Football Team of the Century and Team of the Decades (1980s)
- Academic all-American
- NCAA Top Five award recipient (1985)
- National Football Foundation scholar-athlete
Professional achievements
- Played four seasons with the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers (1985-88)
- Graduated from the University of Alabama-Birmingham School of Medicine (1984)
- Founder and president of Southern Orthopaedic Specialists, P.C. (2001)
- Member of eight professional societies
Professional and civic contributions
- Participates in the NFL Alumni Association’s Caring for Kids
- Volunteer coach for Mountain Brook (Alabama) Athletics
- Active participant in the Mountain Brook (Alabama) Sports Corporation, which supports high school athletics
- Church deacon
Jack Del Rio
University of Southern California
Football and baseball
Public administration
NFL head coach
Collegiate achievements
- Four-year starter for the Southern Cal football team
- Named all-American and runner-up as Lombardi Trophy winner as a senior
- Named co-Most Valuable Player of the 1985 Rose Bowl
- Batted .340 as a catcher for the Trojans baseball in 1983 and 1984
- Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays out of high school in 1981
Professional achievements
- Currently in his 24th overall season in the NFL and his seventh as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars
- Guided the Jaguars to playoff berths twice in the past two years
- Served as linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens team that won Super Bowl XXXV in 2001
- Compiled 1,078 tackles, 12 sacks, 13 interceptions and more than 100 consecutive starts as an NFL player with New Orleans, Kansas City, Dallas and Minnesota
Professional and civic contributions
- Established the Jack Del Rio Foundation in 2008 to help improve the lives of children in northeast Florida by assisting programs that aid in their development, education and enrichment
- Actively supports the American Cancer Society in Jacksonville as well as numerous other charities in his hometown of Hayward, California, and in New Orleans, where he was a player and coach for the Saints
Doug Flutie
Boston College
Football
Communications
Analyst for ABC/ESPN
Collegiate achievements
- Won the Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp Award, Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and the Maxwell Club Trophy in 1984
- Guided Boston College to three bowl wins, including the 1984 Cotton Bowl
- Holds school records for career yards (10,579), touchdowns in a game (6) and yards in a game (520)
- Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007
Professional achievements
- Only player in Canadian Football League history to win four straight Most Outstanding Player of the Year awards and earned a total of six during his career
- Led teams to three Grey Cup championships in the CFL
- First CFL player to throw for 6,000 yards in a season
- Posted a 21-10 record as quarterback for the NFL Buffalo Bills (1998-00)
- Named the NFL’s 1998-99 Comeback Player of the Year and selected to the Pro Bowl that same season
- First non-Canadian elected to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
Professional and civic contributions
- President and co-founder of the Doug Flutie, Jr., Foundation for Autism with his wife, Laurie, in honor of their son, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. The foundation financially aids disadvantaged families who need assistance caring for children with autism and raises funds for education and research of autism
- Raised more than $10 million for autism through donations, fund-raisers and endorsement promotions
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
University of California, Los Angeles
Outdoor track and basketball
History
Philanthropist
Collegiate achievements
- School and NCAA record holder in long jump and heptathlon
- Two-time NCAA champion in the heptathlon (1982 and 1983)
- Recipient of the 1984-85 Honda Broderick Cup as the top female athlete in the nation
- Four-year starter on the Bruins women’s basketball team
- First-team all-Pac-10 selection in basketball
Professional achievements
- Six-time Olympic medalist in the long jump and heptathlon (three golds, one silver and three bronzes)
- Became the first woman to compile more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon at the 1986 Goodwill Games
- Four-time world champion in the long jump and the heptathlon
- IAAF world record holder in the heptathlon
- USA Track and Field American record holder in the long jump
- Three-time Track and Field News World Athlete of the Year
- Named the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated (1991)
Professional and civic contributions
- Raised more than $12 million to build the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Youth Center Foundation in her hometown of East St. Louis, Illinois
- Co-founder of Jackie Joyner-Kersee Racing (NASCAR)
- Motivational speaker
- Spokesperson for asthma sufferers and the Nike PLAY program
Maureen O’Toole-Purcell
University of Hawaii, Manoa
Swimming and water polo
Physical education
Coach/speaker
College achievements
- 26-time all-American in water polo
- Three-time all-American in swimming
Professional achievements
- Only water polo athlete to participate in the first FINA Women’s World Cup, first FINA Women’s World Championships and first women’s water polo tournament at the Olympics
- Olympic silver medalist in water polo (2000)
- Competed with U.S. Women’s Water Polo National Team for 22 years
- Earned four gold, four silver and three bronze medals in world championship competition
- Named most valuable player in the U.S. Water Polo National Championships 15 times and chosen as most valuable player six times in world competition
- Two-time National Collegiate Water Polo Coach of the Year as head women’s coach at University of California at Berkeley, where she guided them to a 125-14 mark from 1995-98
Professional and civic contributions
- Founder of the Pursuit of Excellence Sports Academy, a nonprofit foundation that teaches self-esteem and leadership skills in a sport environment for girls ages 8 to 18
- Member of board of directors and serves as a motivational speaker for the Women’s Sports Foundation
- Active participates with the Special Olympics as a committee member, fund raiser and volunteer aquatics coach
- Author of book “Becoming a Better You”
Deb Richard
University of Florida
Women’s golf
Advertising
Foundation president and chairperson
Collegiate achievements
- Guided Florida to its first NCAA women’s golf national championship in 1985
- Earned the Honda Broderick Cup as the top female golf athlete
- Only women’s golf student-athlete in SEC history to earn three league championships
- 1984 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion
- Inaugural recipient of the SEC’s Women’s Golfer of the Year honor in 1985
Professional achievements
- Posted six career LPGA wins and 71 top 10 finishes
- Member of the United States’ 1992 Solheim Cup team
- Retired in 2005 with more than $2.75 million in career earnings
- Served as LGPA senior vice-president of golf in 2006
- Created a leadership program that became the Soaring with Eagles Foundation, which will launch national programming for high school seniors and college freshman in 2010
Professional and civic contributions
- Established the Deb Richard Foundation in 1995 to award college scholarships to physically challenged kids. To date, the scholarship program has awarded 13 five-year grants of $25,000 and has been endowed at the University of Florida
- Recipient of the Sports Illustrated for Kids Good Sports Award
- Established a program for the American Juvenile Arthritis Foundation
- Recipient of Florida’s Distinguished Alumnus Award (2004)
