The College Football Game of the Year Award is unique. While the Award is designed to present the winning school with significant scholarship money, as do other awards, no other award honors the winning school with lasting and original artwork that can be enjoyed by the school and by its supporters alike. At the heart of the College Football Game of the Year Award is a fine art oil painting and art prints commemorating the winning game for posterity, specially created by acclaimed artist Daniel A. Moore. The College Football Game of the Year Award was conceived and developed by 2005 USSA Sport Artist of the Year Daniel Moore. It was the artist s intent to pay tribute to the most highly charged and exciting college football game each year and to the winning team portraying the principles of high athletic endeavor, complete dedication to victory, and unified team effort. The Award was first presented in 2006 by The United States Sports Academy (the USSA). The winner of the inaugural Award was Rutgers University thanks to its dramatic, come-from-behind win against Louisville in the 2006 regular season. In 2007, the Award was presented to Appalachian State for its unthinkable upset of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. In 2008, Texas Tech s upset of then #1-ranked Texas Longhorns in Lubbock was the Game of the Year designee. And, most recently, the 2009 SEC Championship Game, pairing the University of Alabama against Florida, was selected as the Award winner. The College Football Game of the Year Award continues to be presented as part of the Academy s Awards of Sport series, which was originally established as a tribute to the artist and the athlete. Since its inception, the artist and New Life Art have partnered with the
USSA, who is currently designated as the presenter and independent overseer of the selection process. To this end, the Academy has assembled a prestigious Selection Committee of experts who nominate weekly candidates and vote on the eventual overall winner at season s end. More on the College Football Game of the Year Award Selection Committee: The College Football Game of the Year Award Selection Committee reads like a Who s Who in college football. Consisting of eminent sport leaders, the Committee contains former athletic directors, coaches and/or individuals active in collegiate football, who meet the criteria to serve on the Committee and exhibit no bias in their vote. The committee is chaired by Jack Lengyel, the former college football coach and athletic director best known for being the head coach that resurrected the Marshall University football program, portrayed as the main character in the 2006 film We Are Marshall. It also includes former University of Georgia head coach and athletic director Vince Dooley. Other members are former National Football Foundation CEO Robert Casciola, National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Executive Director Mike Cleary, current Lambuth (Tennessee) University and former Temple and Alabama State head coach Ron Dickerson; former Ohio State Athletic Director James Jones; former University of Washington AD Mike Lude; former University of California AD Dave Maggart, sport artist Daniel Moore, University of Texas Director of Women s Athletics Christine Plonsky, former USA Today sports editor Gene Policinski, former Georgia Tech head coach and AD Homer Rice, former Arizona State AD Dick Tamburo; former Notre Dame associate AD Roger Valdiserri; New York cable television sports producer Jeanne Willis; former Texas Christian University AD Frank Windegger and former Oklahoma State and Washington State AD Dr. Richard Young. Title Corporate Sponsorship Opportunity: We are seeking to enlist a national title corporate sponsor, who can offer fans across the nation the opportunity to vote for the College Football
Game of the Week and Game of the Year. This fan-based voting would be conducted via a website owned and maintained by the title corporate sponsor of the Award, and implemented in a manner similar to that of the Pontiac Game Changing Performance Award. Ideally, both the fans votes and the USSA Selection Committee s picks would be blended together to determine the weekly and annual winners of the College Football Game of the Year Award. The Artwork: As mentioned above, the College Football Game of the Year Award is designed around an original oil painting depicting the winning game. Currently, a canvas replica of the original oil painting is given to the winning school for display in its sports museum or trophy case. However, a corporate sponsor would be given the option to include the original painting itself as part of the Award presented to the winning school. Unlike other awards of sport that are focused solely upon individual performance, the College Football Game of the Year Award is focused on team achievement, but the Award could only be won through the active voting participation of the fans. In this way, the fan-voter would literally become part of the team that put forth the effort in winning the Award. Therefore, the offering of limited edition prints produced from the painting (which is part of the Award the school receives), gives fans a tangible means of taking ownership of the Award (see examples of prints below). Fully implemented by a corporate sponsor, The College Football Game of the Year Award program would ideally include the College Football Game of the Week Award TM, with scholarship money for the winning schools and limited edition prints offered to the public. A pencil drawing of game action would be created and the winners would become automatic nominees for the ultimate College Football Game of the Year Award.
Past presentations of the artwork and the Award: