March 18, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, Central Pennsylvania Chapter, will hold its 18th annual scholar-athlete awards banquet on Sunday, March 22 at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. Former Penn State All-American and NFL standout Jeff Hartings will serve as the featured speaker.
Hartings was a guard at Penn State from 1992-95 and a member of the 1994 Penn State team that won the Big Ten title and posted a 12-0 record, defeating Oregon 38-20 in the Rose Bowl. He earned first team All-America and CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 1994 and 1995 and was the recipient of an NCAA post-graduate scholarship.
The 23rd overall selection by the Detroit Lions in the 1996 NFL Draft, Hartings played for the Lions from 1996-2000. In 2001 he became a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning Super Bowl XL in 2006, and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection in 2004 and 2005.
"Jeff Hartings embodies the essential characteristics of what the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame strives to promote: academic excellence as an NCAA postgraduate scholar-athlete, demonstrable athletic performance as a collegiate All-American and NFL All-Pro and documented service to his community through his outreach efforts," said Ron Pavlechko, President of the NFF, Central Pennsylvania Chapter.
The NFF, Central Pennsylvania Chapter will honor 57 scholar-athletes from the high school and college ranks for their success on the field, in the classroom and commitment to community service. Thirteen high school student-athletes will receive scholarships as well as one college student-athlete while one high school scholar-athlete will win the prestigious Joe Sarra Award, in honor of the late Penn State football assistant coach.
"The 48 high school and nine collegiate senior football players, nominated as scholar-athletes by their respective schools, truly have demonstrated excellence in the areas of academics, athletics and service to community, " said Pavlechko. "They deserve to be honored for their ability to achieve in such a broad range of activities," he added.
Penn State safety and 2014 co-captain Ryan Keiser (Selinsgrove) is among the nine Central Pa. college honorees.
Since initiating the awards banquet in 1998, the Central Pennsylvania Chapter has awarded a total of $195,000 in scholarship money while honoring 615 scholar-athletes from high schools located in its 20-county coverage area.
"The scholar-athlete awards banquet is the keystone to our organization's mission of using the power of amateur football in developing and celebrating leadership, sportsmanship, competitive spirit and academic excellence in America's youth," said Pavlechko.
The NFF will also present lifetime achievement awards in coaching, officiating, athletic training and the Fran Fisher Media Award.
John Hayes, who completed his 34th season at Bellwood-Antis High School, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in Coaching. Hayes has a career record of 297-97-2. Under Hayes, Bellwood-Antis has made three appearances in the state semi-finals and have claimed six PIAA District VI crowns and 17 Inter-County titles.
Ed Conklin of Pine Grove Mills will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in Officiating. Conklin began his career as a PIAA official in 1979 and just completed his 35th season. In 2014 Conklin officiated his first PIAA semi-final game.
Long-time Penn State and current Bloomsburg University Athletic Trainer George Salvaterra will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in Athletic Training. Salvaterra spent 27 years as Penn State's head athletic trainer for football. Dr. Salvaterra currently serves as Faculty Athletic Trainer at Bloomsburg University since July of 2014. He provides athletic training services to all student-athletes at the university, with his main focus on football, women's basketball and women's lacrosse.
The Fran Fisher Media Award, presented for lifetime achievement in journalism and media, will be presented to Ron Bracken. For 40 years. Bracken served as the Penn State beat writer for the Centre Daily Times. Bracken has covered ten Bowl games including the Orange, Rose, Sugar, Cotton and Fiesta Bowls. He has won 15 Pennsylvania writing awards and two national awards and was the first president of the NFF, Central Pennsylvania Chapter.
The event is open to the public and tickets can be purchased by calling 814-466-7244. The cost is $25 per ticket.
WHVL-TV in State College will air the program on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, March 28 at 11:30 a.m. and April 4 and 11 at 11:30 a.m. WHVL is available over the air on digital channel 27 and on eight cable systems including channel 14 and 809 on Comcast, channel 2 and 97 on Atlantic Broadband in Johnstown and Altoona and channel 17 in Clearfield, channel 15 on Windstream, channel 9 Tele-Media in Zion, channel 56 Penn State Campus Cable, Nittany Media channel 7 and Zampelli Cable channel 29 in the Juniata Valley.
The NFF, Central Pennsylvania Chapter is one of 121 chapters nationwide involving over 12,000 members. The wide reach of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter encompasses 20 counties and 92 high schools.
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The NFF & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit education organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people.