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Bill Curry, who was recently named Georgia State University’s first head football coach, has been named the 2008 recipient of the President Gerald R. Ford Legends Center Award.

To be considered for the President Gerald R. Ford Legends Center Award candidates must have either played the Center position at the collegiate or professional level; made extraordinary contributions to his team during his football career; or have proven to be an exemplary citizen, philanthropist or leader in the business or football community.

“I was fortunate enough to meet Gerald Ford when I attended the President’s Prayer Breakfast in 1970. He was the leader of our breakout group, and I was stunned by his humility and grace. To be included in this group and to receive an award named for Gerald Ford is overwhelming,” Coach Curry said.

“I'm also honored to receive an award associated with Dave Rimington, who was the prototype for what a modern center should be. He played with the same quickness, agility and intelligence as the centers of my generation, but he did it at nearly 300 pounds. He was a great, great player, and what he has done with his life since his playing days is even more impressive.”

Coach Curry is the fourth winner of the award - following Ford (2005), Jim Otto (2006), and Alex Kroll (2007). He will be honored at the Ninth Annual Rimington Trophy banquet, scheduled for Saturday, January 17th, 2009 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Rimington Trophy, named for former Nebraska All-America center Dave Rimington, honors the top center in college football.

"Bill Curry is truly a remarkable man on and off of the field," Dave Rimington said. "Throughout his years as a player and coach, Bill has exhibited class, integrity and intense dedication to football, a game he loves deeply. He has served as a great teacher of the game and mentor for its students. Georgia State University could not have picked a better coach or a better man to build the foundation of its new football program.”

Coach Curry is well known for his 17 years of experience as a head coach in the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference--including Coach of the Year awards in both leagues--as well as an All-Pro playing career in the National Football League, and, most recently, national notoriety as a college football analyst for ESPN.

In the NFL, he participated in three Super Bowls and two Pro Bowls. As a center, Curry snapped the ball to legendary quarterbacks Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas, and he played for two of the most highly-regarded coaches in professional sports history in Vince Lombardi and Don Shula. His college coach, Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd, is an icon in Southern football history.

After concluding his 10-year playing career as a center for the Green Bay Packers (1965-66), Baltimore Colts (1967-72), Houston Oilers (1973) and Los Angeles Rams (1974), Curry entered the coaching ranks as offensive line coach at Georgia Tech in 1976. He then spent three years as an NFL assistant with the Packers (1977-79) before returning to his alma mater as head coach in 1980.

Coach Curry spent seven years at the helm with Georgia Tech (1980-1986), three years with Alabama (1987-1989), and another seven years with Kentucky (1990-1996). Through every stop, Curry has carried an indelible reputation for integrity and class, and he has been guided by the ideal that the education and well-being of the student-athlete is paramount. In 2007, he was recognized by the American Football Coaches Association with the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award, which honors someone “whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests of football.”

His passion for mentoring young people is evident in his most recent position as the Director of Leadership at the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Coach Curry attended College Park High School in the Atlanta area before going on to Georgia Tech, where he earned his B.S. degree in Industrial Management in 1965. He is married to the former Carolyn Newton of Atlanta, a graduate of Agnes Scott College who earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. from Georgia State. Bill and Carolyn have two children and five grandchildren.


About the Rimington Trophy
The nine-year old trophy is presented by the Boomer Esiason Foundation. Esiason created his foundation in 1993 to support research and treatment of cystic fibrosis. Esiason and Dave Rimington were teammates on the Cincinnati Bengals from 1984-87. Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first team All- America center at Nebraska in 1981 and 1982 during which he became the John Outland Trophy's only double winner as the nation's premiere college interior lineman.

Past recipients include Dominic Raiola (Nebraska. 2000), LeCharles Bentley (Ohio State, 2001), Brett Romberg (Miami, 2002), Jake Grove (Virginia Tech, 2003), co- winners David Baas (Michigan, 2004) and Ben Wilkerson (LSU, 2004), Greg Eslinger (Minnesota, 2005) and Dan Mozes (West Virginia, 2006), and Jonathan Luigs (Arkansas, 2007). Since its inception the Rimington Trophy has raised over $1.3 million for its benefactor, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It, in turn, is hosted by the Boomer Esiason Foundation which, to date, has raised nearly $65 million for Cystic Fibrosis research.

The Rimington Trophy is a fully accredited member of the National College Football Awards Association.

About the President Gerald R. Ford Legends Center Award
The inaugural "Legends Center Award" was presented to and named after President Gerald R. Ford who played Center at the University of Michigan. Prior to serving as the 38th President of the United States, Ford was an offensive standout for the Wolverines and was a member of the 1932 and 1933 National Championship teams, both of which went undefeated. In 1934, Ford was named the Wolverines' MVP and later starred in San Francisco's East-West Shrine Game and the Chicago Tribune College All- Star Game.

The Award is entering its fourth year of recognizing individuals who have played the Center position at either the collegiate or professional level; have made extraordinary contributions to his team during his football career; or have proven to be exemplary citizens and contributors to the football and/or business communities, or through their own philanthropic endeavors. Past recipients include President Gerald R. Ford (2005), Jim Otto (2006), and Alex Kroll (2007).