National Collegiate Athletic Association |
The NCAA News - News and FeaturesThe NCAA News -- January 4, 1999 SILVER ANNIVERSARY awards The Silver Anniversary Award recognizes former student-athletes who have distinguished themselves since completing their college athletics careers 25 years ago. The honorees will be recognized January 10 during the NCAA honors dinner.
David J. Casper
A tight end on Sports Illustrated's all-time dream team, the second-round draft selection of the Oakland Raiders played professional football for the Raiders, the Houston Oilers, Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams from 1974-84. A member of Oakland's 1997 Super Bowl champion team, he was selected to play in the Pro Bowl five times. After retiring from his playing career, Casper spent a season as an NBC color commentator before joining Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, where he works as a district agent. An active participant in the Life Insurance Underwriters Association, he has been a member of Northwestern Mutual's Million Dollar Round Table for the past six years.
In 1993, he was a recipient of a GTE Academic Hall of Fame honor for outstanding career achievement and contribution to the community. He also was named to the GTE Academic All-American All-Time Team in 1997.
Pat Head Summitt
A 1990 inductee to the Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame, Summitt's six NCAA championships are tops among women's basketball coaches. She is second in career victories by a female coach with 663, having compiled a winning percentage of .803 in 24 years. In 1990, she was the first female recipient of the John Bunn Award from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Summitt is a three-time Naismith Coach of the Year and two-time winner of the same honor from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
Summitt has served as honorary chair of the Tennessee Easter Seal Society four times; was state chair of the American Heart Association in 1994, and cochair of United Way Campaign in Knoxville, 1996.
Lynn Swann
A member of four Super Bowl teams with the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers and the 1976 game's most valuable player, he ranks second in Steelers history in receptions, receiving yardage and receiving touchdowns, and fifth in scoring. He has been a field reporter for Monday Night Football and ABC's College Game of the Week, and has served as a commentator for the 1984 Summer Olympics and 1988 Winter Olympics, as well as ABC's Wide World of Sports.
A member of the national board of directors and a spokesperson for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America since 1980, he also has created a youth scholarship program for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School. He has received a 1990 Merit Award from his alma mater and an NAACP Image Award in 1979. In 1980, he was named Pittsburgh's Multiple Sclerosis Athlete of the Year.
Robert R. Thomas
in 101 attempts, kicked 21 career field goals and set the school record with 62 consecutive extra points. A 1973 academic all-American, he was a dean's list student who graduated with a degree in government.
Now an appellate court A 1981 graduate of Loyola University (Illinois) School of Law, he was elected DuPage County Circuit Court judge in 1988 and is an acting chief judge. He was elected Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court for the Second District in 1994.
In 1996, he was inducted into the GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame and was named to the GTE Academic All-America All-Time Team the following year.
Bill Walton
valuable player. Recognized as one of the NBA's top 50 players of all time, the top draft pick of the 1974 NBA draft enjoyed a 14-year professional playing career during which was a member of two championship teams and was the 1978 league MVP. The first of only two NBA players to lead his team in blocked shots and rebounds in the same season, he was the recipient of the NBA Players' Association's Oscar Robertson Leadership Award in 1991. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993, the GTE Academic All-America team in 1994 and the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. Now a television sports announcer, Walton received an Emmy for his work on an environmental documentary in 1979 and was nominated for two others for television broadcasting in 1995 and 1996. |
Senior captain of the 1973 Fighting Irish team that was postseason consensus No. 1, Casper was the first-team all-American tight end the same year, catching 19 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns. A three-year letter-winner, Casper also earned honors off the field, including academic all-American (1973), election to the Omicron Delta Epsilon honor society (economics) and receiving an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and National Football Foundation scholarship.
Primarily known for coaching the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to six national championships in women's basketball, Summitt also enjoyed an outstanding playing career at her alma mater. During her four letter-winning years, the team posted a 64-29 record. Summitt also enjoyed international success as a player, serving as cocaptain for the 1976 gold medal Olympic team. She also was cocaptain of gold-medal-winning teams at the 1975 Pan American and World University Games.
One of the Trojans' all-time football greats, Swann left his alma mater as the team's career leader in receptions with 95, earning consensus all-American honors as a senior. He remains ranked among the school's top 10 in receptions and punt returns. During his career, the Trojans finished ranked No. 1 in 1972, won the then-Pacific 8 Conference title in 1972 and 1973, and earned Rose Bowl bids both seasons. He is a member of the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame and the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame.
The kicker of the game-winning field goal against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl that sealed the season-ending No. 1 ranking for the 1973 Notre Dame squad, Thomas set numerous school kicking records while winning three letters. He led the 1973 team in scoring with 90 points, scored 98 career extra points
The three-time college player of the year led the Bruins to two NCAA championships and three then-Pacific 8 titles during his collegiate career. The Sullivan Award winner as the nation's top amateur athlete in 1973, Walton was a three-time academic all-American, Pac-8 Player of the Year and team most