Joe Tiller NFF Chapter

NFF: HONORING THE LEGACY OF JOE TILLER 

For the past 18 years, football fans of Purdue University and Northwest Indiana have been channeling some of their enthusiasm and support for amateur football through the National Football Foundation’s chapter based in West Lafayette.

In the 18 years since receiving its charter, the Northwest Indiana Chapter (which became the Joe Tiller Chapter of Northwest Indiana in 2007) has enlisted more than 850 members, becoming the largest chapter in the state and, at one point, was second largest in the nation.

The chapter typically plans several annual events in the area – highlighted by its marquee event, the Honors Dinner/Brunch “Celebrating Our Legends” each spring. Drew Brees, one of Tiller’s first recruits who led Purdue to the Rose Bowl in 2001 and a Hall of Fame quarterback with the New Orleans Saints, has been a guest speaker and presenter at several of the 17 dinners. At that event, the chapter recognizes individuals from the region for various awards and accomplishments, including the announcement of the chapter’s Scholar Athlete of the Year Award. As a non-profit organization, this chapter has awarded approximately $397,000 in grants, scholarships, honorariums and donations since receiving its charter in 2004.

This chapter offers scholarship opportunities for scholar athletes after graduation from 70 high schools in 17 Northwest Indiana counties (ranging from Tippecanoe to Lake counties). Selection of the Scholar Athlete of the Year is based 40% on academic achievement, 40% football performance and attitude, and 20% leadership and citizenship. In addition to seeking donations and sponsorships to support the scholarship program, the chapter also receives money ($500 for every 50 dues-paying members in the local chapter) from the national office in Irving, Tex. In its first 18 years, this chapter has recognized 539 scholar athletes, awarding scholarships or stipends to many of them for their second semester of college.

Each dues-paying member receives a ballot in the selection process for the College Football Hall of Fame, a feature that helped elect former Purdue All-Americans Mike Phipps, Mark Herrmann, Otis Armstrong, Dave Butz and Rod Woodson to the Hall in 2006, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016, respectively. “One of the most important goals of the chapter is to help provide support for former players and coaches who deserve induction into the College Hall of Fame,” says Alan Karpick, the chapter president and a former Purdue player.

Also, this chapter has been very helpful in getting Armstrong, Butz and Woodson along with  Joe Tiller, Mike Alstott, Leroy Keyes, Pete Quinn, Jim Young, Bernie Flowers, Len Dawson, Dale Samuels, Dustin Keller, Jim Everett and several area high school coaches inducted into the Indiana FB Hall of Fame since 2012.

In addition to the scholarships, the local chapter has been involved in support of various youth programs and charities in the area and provides financial assistance for the Indiana Football Hall of Fame and the John Purdue Club’s 12th Boiler Scholarship Program.  

The tax-deductible membership dues are now $60 per year or $150 for three years, payable to the National Football Foundation. The NFF has 120 chapters in 47 states and more than 10,000 members, nationally, and awards more than $1.3 million in scholarships per year while also administering the College Football Hall of Fame. For more information, contact Jim Vruggink (email: jvruggink@purdue.edu; phone: 765-427-3303; or mail: 3672 Farnsworth Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47906/

Northwest Indiana’s past, present and future athletic/academic stars were celebrated on June 22 as part of the NFF Honors Brunch “Celebrating Our Legends XXI,” sponsored by the National Football Foundation’s Joe Tiller Chapter of Northwest Indiana at the Purdue Memorial Union Ballrooms in West Lafayette.

This year’s Honors Brunch featured state champions, All-Americans, dedicated community servants, talented media members, a college athletics director, a Navy helicopter pilot and a multitude of high school standouts.

The Honors Brunch served as induction ceremonies for the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees were David Haugh (North Judson H.S./Chicago Sports Media); Josh Smith (Attica H.S./US Naval Academy); Jim Vruggink (Purdue University/NFF Tiller Chapter); and Josh Whitman (Harrison H.S./U. of Illinois).

But, the June 22 event focused on 15 NFF scholar-athletes who were nominated by their schools throughout Northern Indiana for the annual Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award and at least 19 Lafayette Journal & Courier student-athletes nominated by high school athletics directors in the J&C coverage area.

Also being honored were 18 J&C sport-by-sport players of the year selected by the J&C sports staff and 19 WLFI-TV Athletes of the Week along with some Indiana Football Coaches Association North All-Star nominees from Regions 1, 3, 4 and 5. Personalized certificates were presented to each of these prep athletes who attends the
Honors Brunch.

Along with the awards and recognition for the high school athletes, the Tiller Chapter presented eight other awards, nominated and selected by chapter members and various entities, to recognize outstanding accomplishments in our communities. Some of these presentations occured June 22 while others may take place at the NFF’s Honors Reception in conjunction with the Tyler Trent Golf Outing, Sept. 5.

 The entire list of awards are as follows:
• J&C Female Student-Athletes of the Year – Avery Hardebeck of Benton Central

•J&C Male Student-Athletes of the Year – Noah Weaver of Rossville
• NFF Chapter Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Leo Dellinger of Twin Lakes
• Drew Brees Mental Toughness Award – Braden Smith
• Leroy Keyes Legends Award – Robbie Hummel
• Purdue For Life Impact Award – Mike Carmin
• Todd Clark Outstanding Game Official Award – Mark Beck
• Bernie Flowers Contribution to Amateur Sports Award – Rob Lear

•Citizenship Award - Devin Mockobee
• Arnette Tiller “Service to Football” Award – Adella Flowers
• Patrick Mackey Courage Award – Aldo Robles
• Tyler Trent Courage and Resilience Award – Anneliese Williams
• Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductee – Drew Brees (TBD)
• Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductee – David Haugh (June 2025)
• Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductee – Josh Smith (June 2025)
• Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductee – Jim Vruggink (June 2025)

• Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductee – Josh Whitman (June 2025) • • Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductee – John Scheumann (TBD - posthumously)

• State Championship Team Awards – Rossville Softball, Harrison Boys Soccer and Lafayette Faith Christian Girls Soccer

The primary goal of these events is to provide recognition for scholar-athletes and community members who support them and to raise funds for charities. And, fund-raising is an ongoing project. The NFF Honors Reception on Sept. 5 at a location yet to be determined will raise funds for scholarships while the Tyler Trent Golf Outing on Sept. 5 at Coyote Crossing Golf Club near West Lafayette raises funds for the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research. Other events are still being considered.

The NFF scholar-athletes’ names and high schools, as nominated by their schools, were: Clayton Blackburn (Lafayette Faith Christian), Caden Carmichael (Wabash), Keyen Crowder (Lafayette Jefferson), David Curl (West Lafayette), Patrick Cusick (Andrean), Leo Dellinger (Twin Lakes), Drew Elzinga (Oak Hill), Kyle Harshburger (Clinton Prairie), Thomas Henry (Lafayette Central Catholic), Jordan Kantz (North White), William King (Lafayette Faith Christian), Ian Metzinger (Benton Central), Jackson Mills (Harrison), Conner Standifer (Benton Central) and Dakota Whann (North Miami).

The Journal & Courier Female Nominees for Student-Athlete of the Year were: Joslyn Barnett (Attica), Addie Bowsman (Twin Lakes), Taylor Cripe (South Newton), Avery Hardebeck (Benton Central), Brailey Hoagland (Fountain Central), Avery Layton (Rossville), Addison Miller (Clinton Prairie), Ruth Moser (Harrison), Guinevere Schmitzer-Torbert (Crawfordsville), Danielle Welborn (Lafayette Faith Christian) and Sara Zarse (Tri-County). The Journal & Courier Male Nominees for Student-Athlete of the Year are: Leo Dellinger (Twin Lakes), Kyle Harshbarger (Clinton Prairie), Jason Newton (Frontier), Alec Saidian (Crawfordsville), Grayson Schneider (Tri-County), Hunter Sisson (Benton Central), Klayton Stevens (Clinton Central) and Noah Weaver (Rossville).

The Journal & Courier Players of the Year were: Carley Barrett (basketball, Central Catholic), Alonzo Clawson-Smith (basketball, Jefferson), Keyen Crowder (football offense, Jefferson), David Curl (football defense, West Lafayette), Ryan Delgatto (football defense, Central Catholic), Cali Foster (volleyball, Benton Central), Lillie Graves (basketball, McCutcheon), Isaac Gutierrez (soccer, Harrison), Diego Hernandez-Reyes (football offense, Rensselaer), Tyler Klemme (baseball ’24, Benton Central), Avery Layton (softball ’24, Rossville), Jake McGraw (basketball, Clinton Prairie), Ruth Moser (soccer, Harrison), Chelsea Parker (softball ’24, Harrison), Kamri Rowland (basketball, Rensselaer), Lexi Shondell (volleyball, McCutcheon) and Sammy Swank (baseball, McCutcheon).

The WLFI-TV Athletes of the Week were: Carley Barrett (basketball, Central Catholic), Della Bossung (volleyball, Harrison), Zo Clawson-Smith (basketball, Jefferson), Keyen Crowder (football, Jefferson), Nick Curtain (basketball, Clinton Prairie), Andre Fancher (football, Jefferson), Ray Gibson (basketball, Harrison), Lillie Graves (basketball, McCutcheon), Malachi King (basketball, Harrison), Keara Lipscomb-Allen (basketball, McCutcheon), Bobby Metzger (football, Jefferson), Gabe Miller (basketball, Faith Christian), Nery Pacheco (soccer, McCutcheon), Jenna Roth (basketball, Delphi), Ethan Seubring (wrestling, Faith Christian), Reid Smith (basketball, Harrison), Rylinn Spradling (basketball, Logansport), Eva Stokes (volleyball, Harrison) and Ben Werth (basketball, West Lafayette).

All 92 students who were selected as all-stars for the North team – some of them invited to this event for other awards and honors – were invited to the Honors Brunch and received certificates, if they attended. 

Purdue’s new head football coach Barry Odom attended the brunch and was interviewed by football play-by-play announcer Tim Newton. 

This year’s community honorees included Devin Mockobee of the Purdue football team for his generosity with his hometown youth football program, Rob Lear of Red Hawk Wrestling, recognized for his superb work with area high school wrestlers; Adella Flowers for her support of all sports and the Tiller Chapter, Mark Beck for football and track officiating; and Mike Carmin for excellence in sports journalism. Also, Aldo Robles received the Patrick Mackey Courage Award for his recovery battle from brain cancer, Anneliese Williams was recognized as the latest recipient of the Tyler Trent Courage & Resilience Award, an honor for which she was selected last summer but was unable to attend the Honors Reception due to health issues.

The four IFCA Hall of Fame selectees inducted on June 22 have come to this distinction in different ways.

David Haugh was nominated by his high school, North Judson-San Pierre, and Coach Brett Lambert. Haugh finished his prep career as the state’s all-time leading receiver while also grabbing 26 interceptions. He went on to earn all-conference honors as a safety at Ball State and then earned his master’s degree from Northwestern before launching a successful career as a sportswriter and broadcaster in the Chicago area, including a show on ESPN radio. He lives in Schererville.

Josh Smith was nominated by his high school, Attica, and administrator Robert Campbell. Smith was one of the most dominant football players in Indiana history, rushing for 3004 yards and scoring 449 points in his senior season in 2000 when he was named USA Today’s Indiana Player of the Year. He advanced to the US Naval Academy and was a multiple year starter as a defensive back. He remains in the Navy to this day where he serves as a helicopter pilot. He resides in Virginia Beach, Va.

Jim Vruggink was nominated by Brad Smith of the IFCA for his efforts to advance amateur sports in Indiana through his profession in collegiate athletic communications for 37 years at Purdue and as executive director of the Joe Tiller Chapter of the NFF for 20 years. A Central Michigan graduate, Jim was previously honored by his induction into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame and the CMU Journalism Hall of Fame. He resides in West Lafayette.

Josh Whitman was nominated by Harrison H.S. and former head coach Terry Peebles in recognition of his outstanding high school, collegiate and professional career. Josh was an all-state tight end for the Raiders and an Academic All-American at Illinois before spending parts of four seasons with four different NFL teams. He is now in his 10th year as the athletics director at Illinois, leading the Fighting Illini to excellence in many competitive areas and in the classroom. He lives in Champaign, Ill.

Posthumous induction for John Scheumann, a very successful builder in the Lafayette area, has been handled internally at Jefferson High School but was presented at the June 22 event.