OMAHA — Bobby Bowden, Florida State University’s highly successful football coach from 1976 to 2009, will appear in Omaha for the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner on Jan.10, 2018, at the Downtown Doubletree Hotel.
Bowden, 87, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006, will accept the fourth annual Tom Osborne Legacy Award from the legendary former Nebraska head football coach.
For the 21st consecutive year, the prestigious awards dinner will be held in Omaha where the Outland Trophy will be presented to the 2017 winner. The best interior linemen in college football, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), will be announced on ESPN on Dec. 7, 2017 during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show from the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
“Having Bobby Bowden receive the Tom Osborne Legacy Award brings together iconic coaches of the same era who not only coached against each other in some epic games, but who share many of the same values off the field,” said FWAA Executive Director Steve Richardson. “It is another home run for the city of Omaha and the FWAA in conjunction with the presentation of the 2017 Outland Trophy to a worthy recipient.”
Also on hand in Omaha will be Greg Sharpe, the radio voice of the Cornhuskers who will emcee the dinner where Nebraska senior awards will be presented: the Tom Novak Trophy, Guy Chamberlin Trophy and Cletus Fischer Native Son Award.
The Legacy Award, which Bowden will receive, is presented to a person for making extraordinary contributions to the Outland Trophy and to the interior line play in college football; for exhibiting the characteristics of integrity, sportsmanship and fair play associated with Tom Osborne; for demonstrating a record of leadership and good citizenship in the community that’s consistent with Rotary International’s primary motto, “Service Above Self”.
Previous winners of the Osborne Award are former Nebraska assistant coach Milt Tenopir, Outland Trophy sculptor Jim Ridlon and former Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer.
Bowden is only the third coach in major-college football history to coach 500 games and is the only coach in the history of major-college football to compile 14 straight 10- victory seasons from 1987-2000. Bowden led the Seminoles to consensus national championships in 1993 and 1999 and won 12 Atlantic Coast Conference titles. In claiming the first of the national titles, Bowden’s Seminoles defeated Osborne’s Nebraska Cornhuskers, 18-16, in the 1994 Orange Bowl.
Bowden makes monthly motivational speeches to Christian groups. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) also presents an award in his name each year to a Division I FBS football player “who epitomizes the student-athlete and conducts himself as a faith model in the community, in the classroom and on the field.”
Additionally, the Outland Trophy semifinalists announcement reception will be held in Omaha on Nov. 16, 2017 at the Old Mattress Factory.
For more information on the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner and semifinalists reception contact:
Bob Mancuso, Jr.
Chairman – Greater Omaha Sports Committee
7015 Spring St
Omaha NE 68106
w – 402-346-8003
fax – 402-346-5412
bmancuso07@msn.com
The Outland Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 23 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about our story.
The Football Writers Association of America, founded in 1941, consists of 1,300 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.
The Greater Omaha Sports Committee, founded in 1977, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization,consisting of more than 1000 men and women from the City of Omaha, the State of Nebraska, and others. The membership serves to communicate, develop, initiate and promote sports activities in the Greater Omaha sports area. In addition to the Outland Trophy Award Dinner, the Greater Omaha Sports Committee promotes high school, college, and professional sports in the Greater
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