The NCAA News - News and Features

January 20, 1997

Humble in victory --
Payne graciously accepts NCAA's highest honor, credits others for his achievements

BY JACK L. COPELAND
Managing Editor, THE NCAA NEWS

NASHVILLE -- Former and current student-athletes who rightfully can boast of a variety of accomplishments -- including the man credited with bringing the 1996 Olympic Games to Atlanta -- used an NCAA event honoring those achievements to pay homage to the families, educators and coaches who helped pave their way.

The Association's 32nd annual honors dinner January 12 recognized William Porter "Billy" Payne as this year's recipient of the NCAA's highest honor -- the Theodore Roosevelt Award -- and eight current and six former student-athletes as Today's Top VIII and Silver Anniversary Award recipients.

Payne, a former University of Georgia football player who led Atlanta's bid to host the Olympics and then served as president of the organizing committee that administered the Games, was honored by the Association for his "rare combination of vision, passion and leadership."

But Payne was quick to credit a long list of supporters for his achievements -- including his father, his football coach (Georgia athletics director Vince Dooley), his university president (Charles Knapp), his family and the approximately 70,000 Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games volunteers "who made my passion in life -- the organization of these Games, the sharing with the world of the great spirit of the American South and the friendliness of the American people -- their life's work."

In fact, Payne said he is unlike previous recipients of the "Teddy" Award, who include presidents, generals and admirals, and prominent entertainers.

"As I reviewed that list and it became obvious to me that all of the previous honorees had achieved their success as a consequence of their own individual skills, I knew something was wrong," he said. "Because in my case, the successes that I have been privileged to enjoy are not the consequence of my own skills, but are in fact attributable to the people who have allowed me to stand on their shoulders for these many years."

Payne said that he -- and tens of thousands of "scholar-athletes" before him -- achieved success because of "people like you in this audience" who offered love and unselfish support.

"I stand here before you tonight proud, yes, to have my name included on this list, but also assured that I represent those thousands of us who as intercollegiate athletes have benefited so significantly because others supported us along the way," he said.

Today's Top VIII

Eight current student-athletes -- including a basketball player, two football players, two swimmers and a diver, and two soccer players -- also were honored as this year's Today's Top VIII.

Speaking on their behalf, University of Virginia football running back Atiim "Tiki" Barber recalled the uncertainty that he felt as he entered college, and his eventual realization that he faced a challenge.

Now, as he prepares to graduate, he again feels uncertainty about the future, but also sees promise.

"I know the character, the integrity and the leadership ability that we have built as college student-athletes will continue to carry us upward, as we strive for the summit and know the sky is the limit," Barber said.

The other Top VIII honorees are diver Adam Burgasser of the University of California, San Diego; basketball player Jennifer M. Clarkson of Abilene Christian University; soccer player Michael J. Fisher of Virginia; swimmer Berit Puggaard of Southern Methodist University; soccer player Jennifer M. Renola of the University of Notre Dame; swimmer Annette E. Salmeen of the University of California, Los Angeles; and football player (and 1996 Heisman Trophy winner) Danny Wuerffel of the University of Florida.

Silver Anniversary Awards

NBC News chief legal correspondent and "Today, Weekend Edition" coanchor Jack Ford, also alluded to the importance of the support of educators and coaches in his remarks on behalf of six Silver Anniversary Award recipients who completed their collegiate athletics careers 25 years ago.

But Ford, who played football at Yale, also took the opportunity to advise those attending the honors dinner that "we can't ignore the challenges" facing intercollegiate athletics.

"Sadly, there's a perception among many out there that college athletics is populated by brainless, lawless mercenaries who serve a corrupt system," he said. "The challenge for us -- especially for you folks -- is twofold.

"First is to recognize that there are some problems; they're not as pervasive and not as profound as some people think, but they are there and they need to be dealt with, and they are not insurmountable.

"Secondly, we -- and by we I mean also those of us in the media -- need to do a much better job of heralding the accomplishment of current student-athletes."

Ford offered some parenting advice he once read as guidance that also is applicable to college athletics.

"The true obligation of parents, and by extension the obligation of you folks, is to provide both roots and wings for the children, and for the student-athletes," he said.

"Provide the roots that will allow them to withstand the buffeting of life's winds, and the wings to allow them when it's time to have the confidence, independence and ability to fly away on their own. It's a challenge for college athletics, but it's a challenge that we need to meet."

Joining Ford as honorees were opthamologist and Louisiana legislator Tommy Casanova, a former football player at Louisiana State University; orthopedic surgeon David Joyner, a Pennsylvania State University football player and wrestler; State Farm Insurance Company president/chairman Edward B. Rust, a wrestler at Illinois Wesleyan University; New York State legislator James Tedisco, a basketball player at Union College (New York); and restaurant-chain owner Herb Washington, a track star and football player at Michigan State University.