The Walter Camp Distinguished American Award is presented by the Walter Camp Football Foundation to an individual who has used his or her talents to attain great success in business, private life or public service and who may have accomplished that which no other has done. The recipient does not have to have participated in football but must understand its lesson of self-denial, cooperation and teamwork and who is a person of honesty, integrity and dedication. He or she must be a leader, an innovator, even a pioneer, who has reached a degree of excellence which distinguished him or her from contemporaries and who lives within the principles of

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the syste ...

Honorees

1978—

Jim Crowley James Harold "Sleepy Jim" Crowley (September 10, 1902 – January 15, 1986) was an American football player and coach. He gained fame as one-fourth of the University of Notre Dame's legendary " Four Horsemen" backfield where he played halfback f ...

, ''Notre Dame''
1979— Sonny Werblin, ''Rutgers''
1980—

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chi ...

, ''Illinois''
1980—

Alexander Haig Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. (; December 2, 1924February 20, 2010) was United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to and in between these cab ...

, ''United States Military Academy''
1981—

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...

, ''Illinois''
1982— Eddie Robinson, ''Grambling State''
1983—

Tom Harmon Thomas Dudley Harmon (September 28, 1919 – March 15, 1990), known as Tom Harmon, as well as by the nickname "Old 98", was an American football player, military pilot, actor, and sports broadcaster. Harmon grew up in Gary, Indiana, and playe ...

, ''Michigan''
1984—

Bill Carpenter William Stanley Carpenter Jr. (born September 30, 1937) is a retired American military officer and former college football player. While playing college football at the United States Military Academy, he gained national prominence as the "Loneso ...

, ''United States Military Academy''
1985—

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

1986— Tom Landry, ''Texas''
1987—

Weeb Ewbank Wilbur Charles "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to consecutive NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in ...

, ''Miami (OH)''
1988—

Sid Luckman Sidney Luckman (November 21, 1916 – July 5, 1998) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1939 through 1950. During his twelve seasons with the Bears ...

, ''Columbia'' /

Y. A. Tittle Yelberton Abraham Tittle Jr. (October 24, 1926 – October 8, 2017) was a professional American football quarterback. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, and Baltimore Colts, after spe ...

, ''Louisiana State''
1989— Dick Kazmaier, ''Princeton'' /

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as '' ...

, ''Florida State''
1990— Tex Schramm, ''Texas''
1991—

Alex Kroll Alexander Stanley Kroll (born November 23, 1937) is a former professional American football player and a retired advertising agency executive at Young & Rubicam, where he served as CEO for ten years. Early life and football Kroll's father worked ...

, ''Rutgers'' / Susan Saint James, ''Connecticut College''
1992— Carmen Cozza, ''Miami (OH) / Yale''
1993— Theodore Hesburgh
1994—

Paul Tagliabue Paul John Tagliabue (; born November 24, 1940) is an American lawyer who was the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He took the position in 1989 and served until September 1, 2006. He had previously served as a lawyer for the NFL ...

, ''Georgetown''
1995—

Keith Jackson Keith Max Jackson (October 18, 1928 – January 12, 2018) was an American sports commentator, journalist, author, and radio personality, known for his career with ABC Sports (1966–2006). While he covered a variety of sports over his caree ...

, ''Washington State''
1996—

Dick Ebersol Duncan "Dick" Ebersol (; born July 28, 1947) is an American television executive and a senior adviser for NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. He had previously been the chairman of NBC Sports, producing large-scale television events such as the ...

, ''Yale''
1997— Steve Largent, ''Tulsa''
1998—

Steve Young Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccan ...

, ''Brigham Young''
1999— Bo Schembechler, ''Miami (OH)''
2000— Gene Upshaw, ''Texas A&I''
2001—New York City Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Service Personnel and Port Authority Police
2002—

Regis Philbin Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine was an American television presenter, talk show host, game show host, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest working ma ...

, ''Notre Dame''
2003— Bill Walsh, ''San Jose State''
2004—

Pat Summerall George Allen "Pat" Summerall (May 10, 1930 – April 16, 2013) was an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. Summerall announ ...

, ''Arkansas''
2005— Arthur Blank, ''Babson''
2006—

Dick Vermeil Richard Albert Vermeil (; born October 30, 1936) is a former American football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles for seven seasons, the St ...

, ''San Jose State''
2007—

Frank Broyles John Franklin Broyles (December 26, 1924 – August 14, 2017) was an American college football player and coach, college athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the head football coach for one season at the University of Missour ...

, ''Georgia Tech''
2008—

Len Dawson Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Af ...

, ''Purdue''
2009—

Robin Roberts Robin Roberts may refer to: * Robin Roberts (newscaster) (born 1960), ''Good Morning America'' anchor and former ESPN anchor * Robin Roberts (baseball) (1926–2010), American baseball player * Rockin' Robin Roberts (1940–1967), singer See al ...

, ''Southeastern Louisiana''
2010— Chuck Bednarik, ''Pennsylvania''
2011—

Floyd Little Floyd Douglas Little (July 4, 1942 – January 1, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a halfback for the Denver Broncos, initially in the American Football League (AFL) and later the National Football League (NFL). He wa ...

, ''Syracuse''
2012—

Tom Osborne Thomas William Osborne (born February 23, 1937) is a former American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and politician from Nebraska. He served as head football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1973 to 1997 (25 seaso ...

, ''Hastings''
2013—

Joe Theismann Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadia ...

, ''Notre Dame''
2014— Verne Lundquist, ''Texas Lutheran''
2015— Timothy Shriver, ''Yale''
2016—

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year ...

, ''Pitt''
2017—

Lee Corso Lee Richard Corso (born August 7, 1935) is an American sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN and a former coach. He has been a featured analyst on ESPN's '' College GameDay'' program since its inception in 1987. Corso served as the h ...

, ''Florida State''
2018—

Archie Manning Elisha Archibald Manning III (born May 19, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints. He played for the Saints from 1971 to 1982 and al ...

, ''Ole Miss''
2019— Chris Berman, ''Brown''
2021— Jerry Jones, ''Dallas Cowboys''

References

External links

* {{College football award navbox College football lifetime achievement awards Awards established in 1978 1978 establishments in the United States

Honorees

See also

References

External links