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National Football Foundation Celebrating Our Legends 2010 Honors Dinner

West Lafayette's Wodicka wins Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award

Former Purdue quarterbacks "stole the show" but a wide receiver-turned-quarterback walked off with the big trophy at the sixth annual NFF Honors Dinner on June 22, 2010, at the Purdue Memorial Union.

It was an evening of awards and celebration as Drew Brees, Len Dawson and Bob Griese, Purdue's three Super Bowl Champion quarterbacks, appeared together for the first time ever in West Lafayette to receive their Gold Medallions, while Mark Herrmann was honored as a 2010 selection for the College Football Hall of Fame.


However, the big winner of the evening was West Lafayette High School standout Daniel Wodicka, who was named as Northwest Indiana's Scholar Athlete of the Year, receiving a large trophy and scholarship assistance of more than $5,000.  

The event, co-hosted by the National Football Foundation's Joe Tiller Chapter of Northwest Indiana and Purdue University's Gimlet Leadership Honorary, drew a capacity crowd of more than 800.

In receiving the Gold Medallion, the QB trio earned the chapter's highest award, having been awarded only once previously (to Dr. Martin Jischke upon his retirement as Purdue President in 2007). It is given only in special circumstances to honor highly successful people who have achieved significant career success while demonstrating integrity and honesty and bringing recognition to the local area covered by the Joe Tiller Chapter. The three were also honored by Purdue University's President France Córdova and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Keith Krach, with special resolutions and were given "Cradle of Quarterbacks" jackets.

Purdue now matches Alabama as the only universities in the nation to have three alums as Super Bowl Champion quarterbacks. The Crimson Tide claims Bart Starr, Joe Namath and Kenny Stabler.

Meanwhile, Herrmann, who was a two-time All-American QB and an 11-year veteran of the NFL, was honored for being selected this spring for induction in the College Football Hall of Fame, becoming the seventh Purdue player ever chosen.

In addition, Joe McConnell, who retired as a Purdue's football play-by-play announcer after the 2009 season, received the chapter's Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award. He will be recognized for his 15 years of superb work in calling games for Boilermaker radio listeners throughout Indiana.

Prior to Brees his Super Bowl triumph in February, Dawson won in 1971 and Griese did the same in 1973. Griese actually started three Super Bowls (VI, VII and VIII) after Dawson started Super Bowls I and IV. Both were on the losing end of their first games before winning their subsequent appearances. Dawson, in fact, was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl IV after Kansas City defeated the Minnesota Vikings 23-7. And the Dolphins' 14-7 over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII capped a 17-0 season, as Miami become the only unbeaten, untied team Super Bowl champ. Brees was named MVP of Super Bowl XLIV after leading New Orleans to a 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, capping a magical season for the Saints and their loyal fans.

A total of 27 high school football players from the 18 counties of Northwest Indiana that encompass the Joe Tiller Chapter received scholarship assistance totally nearly $30,000 for their first year of college. They are: Nicholas Biancardi (Griffith), Greg Burns (Lafayette Central Catholic), Steven Cavanaugh (Clinton Prairie), Austen Conwell (Taylor), Tanner Cripe (Delphi), Damon Foreman (Lewis Cass), Marc Heater (Winamac), Mike Huffer (Lafayette Jefferson), Andy Hunkeler (Northwestern), Kyle Kellar (Wheeler), David Lee (Gary West Side), Derrick McQuiston (Logansport), Keifer Morgan (Munster), Scott Moore (Fountain Central), Nicholas Morris (Benton Central), Phillip Newbill (Maconaquah), Clay Oppy (McCutcheon), Darius Parker (East Chicago Central), Jacob Rietow (Knox), T.K. Rock (Harrison), Seth Rooze (Attica), John Saltanovitz (Valparaiso), Richard Schmidt (Andrean), Casey Shipley (Kokomo), Eric Shorten (Oak Hill), Andrew Wilson (Twin Lakes), and Wodicka. 

Six of these young men -- Burns, Heater, Moore, Saltanovitz, Schmidt and Wodicka -- have been singled out by judges as finalists for the Scholar Athlete of the Year Award, based 40 percent on academics, 40 percent on athletics, and 20 percent on citizenship and character.

Wodicka, who was an all-state wide receiver as a junior before converting to quarterback last fall, emerged as the winner. Along with being valedictorian of his senior class, receiving a state award for his work in the "Best Buddies Program" and being chosen as Mr. Football for the entire state of Indiana, Daniel led the Red Devils to a perfect 15-0 season and the Class 3A State Championship. He capped it all off in mid-July when he was named Most Valuable Player after leading his North team to a come-from-behind, 24-21 overtime victory over the South in the annual Indiana High School All-Star Game. He will attend Johns Hopkins University this fall to play football and study bio-medical engineering.  

Including this year's totals, the NFF's Joe Tiller Chapter has honored 98 scholar athletes and awarded approximately $112,000 worth of scholarships, honorariums and grants in its first six years.


Drew Brees, Len Dawson and Bob Griese, Purdue's three Super Bowl Champion quarterbacks, appeared together for the first time ever in West Lafayette to receive their Gold Medallions.


West Lafayette High School graduate Daniel Wodicka, the 2010 Mr. Football and Midwest Scholar-Athlete of the Year, stands with Drew Brees.