The NCAA News - News Features

Former student-athlete standouts receive Silver Anniversary Awards

Six former collegiate stars who have enjoyed prominent professional careers in journalism, business, politics and medicine are this year's NCAA Silver Anniversary Award recipients.

The Silver Anniversary Award recognizes former student-athletes who have distinguished themselves since completing their college athletics careers 25 years ago. The award winners were selected by the NCAA Honors Committee, which is composed of athletics administrators at member institutions and distinguished citizens who are former student-athletes.

This year's honorees are Tommy Casanova, Louisiana State University, football; Jack Ford, Yale University, football; David Joyner, Pennsylvania State University, football and wrestling; Edward B. Rust, Illinois Wesleyan University, wrestling and football; James Tedisco, Union College (New York), basketball; and Herb Washington, Michigan State University, track and field.

These individuals will be recognized January 12 at the honors dinner during the NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

Following are biographical sketches of the six award winners:

Tommy Casanova

LSU

Football

Casanova was a three-time first-team all-American and three-time first-team all-Southeastern Conference selection at LSU. His two punt returns for touchdowns in a 1970 battle with Mississippi are among highlights that earned him induction into the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame.

Casanova's football achievements continued after his collegiate career as he played for the NFL Cincinnati Bengals while pursuing a degree in medicine, which he earned from the University of Cincinnati in 1979.

He returned to Louisiana for an ophthalmology residency in New Orleans, then in 1984 he moved to Salt Lake City to complete a fellowship in oculoplastic surgery at the University of Utah.

Currently an ophthalmologist in his hometown of Crowley, Louisiana, and a Louisiana state senator, Casanova also serves as an associate clinical professor at the LSU training program in New Orleans and as an oculoplastic consultant at the Hansen's Disease Research Center.

His medical accomplishments include travel with Project Orbis to Colombia in South America, where he served as a faculty member in an international exchange of ophthalmic surgical technique and philosophy.

A 1995 inductee into the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, Casanova also serves on the Louisiana State Board of Trustees for Colleges and Universities.

Jack Ford

Yale

Football

A three-year starting defensive back for the Bulldogs, Ford helped Yale win the 1969 Ivy Group title as a sophomore with two interceptions -- one that he returned 77 yards for a touchdown.

He scored twice as a junior and helped the Bulldogs rank ninth nationally in rushing and scoring defense.

Ford went on to earn a law degree at Fordham University before becoming an assistant prosecutor in Monmouth County in New Jersey. He then became a trial attorney in private practice and an adjunct professor of law at Fordham's School of Law.

He began his broadcast journalism career as a legal commentator for WCBS-TV in New York. He became NBC News' chief legal correspondent in 1984 and has maintained that position since.

Ford has co-anchored the "Today, Weekend Edition" show and was host of the public television series, "Inside the Law." He won an Emmy Award in 1989.

Ford serves as spokesman for the Eastern Region March of Dimes. In 1995, he earned the National Easter Seals Society Broadcast Journalism Award for media efforts promoting equality, dignity and independence of people with disabilities.

A member of Fordham's Board of Trustees, Ford also serves on the Board of Directors for the Women's Resource Center of New Jersey.

David Joyner

Penn State

Football and wrestling

A two-sport star, Joyner was a consensus all-American in football as a tackle and a first-team all-America selection in wrestling in 1971.

Joyner captained the Nittany Lions football team in 1971 and was an honorable-mention selection to Street & Smith's all-decade team.

In wrestling, Joyner was a three-time Eastern Intercollegiate champion and the NCAA heavyweight runner-up in 1971. Joyner won 110 of 113 career matches.

Winner of an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, Joyner also was a National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame scholar-athlete and is a GTE Academic All-America Hall of Fame selection.

Currently an orthopedic surgeon and chief executive officer of the Joyner Sports Medicine Institute, Joyner has served as head physician for U.S. teams during several international competitions, including the 1987 Pan American Games, the 1989 Olympic Festival, the 1991 University World Games and the 1992 Olympics.

Joyner was a member of the organizing committee for the Third IOC World Congress on Sports Sciences in 1995 and in 1996 was named a member of the Medical Advisory Board for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission.

Edward B. Rust

Illinois Wesleyan

Wrestling and football

Rust wrestled for two years at Illinois Wesleyan, posting a 22-8-1 career record and winning two NAIA District 20 championships. He also was a two-year starting guard in football and was president of the Alpha Kappa Psi national business fraternity chapter as a senior.

Rust earned postgraduate degrees in business administration and law at Southern Methodist University before beginning his career in insurance.

He held several positions at State Farm Insurance Company, including corporate law department attorney, assistant vice-president, executive vice-president and chief operating officer before assuming his current position as president and chairman of the board in 1985. He also serves as chairman of the board for the State Farm Companies Foundation and as chief executive officer for State Farm International Services.

An Illinois Wesleyan trustee, Rust also is a member of the Campaign Cabinet and President's Advisory Council for the American Red Cross.

James Tedisco

Union (New York)

Basketball

Tedisco rewrote the record book at Union (New York), setting school marks in career points per game, points, field goals and free throws in a season, and field goals and free throws in a game. He was a two-time Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Division III player of the year and a two-time United Press International Little All-American.

Tedisco helped the Dutchmen to a 15-game winning streak, which broke a 54-year-old school record. He received the school's Joseph Dagget Prize for graduating seniors, which recognizes character and conduct.

His career as a New York State Assemblyman began in 1982. Tedisco since has been a ranking member of the Committee on Children and Families and a member of several additional groups, including the Joint Legislative Task Force on Academics and Athletics.

He has been involved with key legislation that requires kindergarten through eighth-grade students to receive instruction designed to prevent the abduction of children, establishes as a class B felony the sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds, and requires schools to notify parents of children who are not in attendance within three hours of the beginning of the school day in order to assist law enforcement authorities in their response to reports of missing children.

Herb Washington

Michigan State

Track and field

A four-time all-American sprinter, Washington is a former NCAA individual champion and seven-time Big Ten Conference champion. He tied or broke world records in the 50- and 60-yard dashes several times at Michigan State and became known as one of the world's best sprinters.

Washington, winner of the Big Ten Medal of Honor for proficiency in academics and athletics, was drafted by the NFL Baltimore Colts in 1972, but he is best remembered in professional sports as a pinch runner in baseball for the Oakland Athletics. He stole 29 bases during his first season and helped the A's advance to the World Series.

He joined Michigan Bell as an assistant director of personnel, then became the company's sales manager. Currently, Washington owns six McDonald's restaurants in upstate New York.

Washington also serves as one of three boxing commissioners in New York who are responsible for holding hearings between managers and boxers and rendering decisions based upon the grievances.

A member of the board of directors for the United Negro College Fund, Washington also serves on the board of directors for the United States Federal Reserve Bank of New York and as vice-president of the National Black McDonald's Operation Association, an organization consisting of 325 black McDonald's owners.