For NCAA student-athletes, the lessons learned on the field are as valuable as the ones they pick up away from the action.

Those lessons are evident through the professional achievements of former student-athletes such as Doug Flutie, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Jack Del Rio, Gregg Carr, Maureen O’Toole-Purcell and Deb Richard, the recipients of the 2010 NCAA Silver Anniversary Awards.

The Silver Anniversary Awards annually recognize six distinguished former student-athletes on the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of the college athletics careers.

For Richard, the time spent competing for Florida was about much more than perfecting her short game.

“Living the dream began the day I signed my National Letter of Intent to go to the University of Florida,” she said. “I was challenged everyday on the golf course and in the classroom to push the bar to the next level by my teammates and coach. Committing everyday to get the most out of every day in order to have a successful college experience provided invaluable lessons that have guided me through every endeavor in my life.”

Similarly, Del Rio, a two-sport athlete at Southern California, said his time as an NCAA student-athlete established an important foundation for success later in life.

“While attending USC and playing football, I came into contact with some amazing people who were great teachers and mentors,” he said. “They taught me that wonderful things can be accomplished with hard work and dedication. I have carried those lessons over into my professional and personal life and have benefited from them immensely.

“I also learned excellent time-management skills. The only way to be a successful student-athlete is to properly manage your time. Fortunately, those same skills apply throughout all areas of life, and I was lucky to learn them at such an early age. Being a student-athlete gave me an early start to being a success in life.”

The Silver Anniversary Award winners will be recognized in January during the Honors Celebration at the 2010 NCAA Convention in Atlanta.

Following are summaries of each recipient’s accomplishments.

Gregg Carr, Auburn

Football

Civil engineering

Orthopedic physician

Collegiate achievements

• Four-year letter-winner and consensus All-American at linebacker
• Led Auburn in tackles for three seasons
• Helped the Tigers compile a 29-8 mark, post three bowl victories and capture an SEC title
• Named to Auburn’s Football Team of the Century and Team of the Decade (1980s)
• Academic All-American
• NCAA Top Five award recipient (1985)
• National Football Foundation scholar-athlete

Professional achievements

• Played four seasons with the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers (1985-88)
• Graduated from the Alabama-Birmingham School of Medicine (1984)
• Founder and president of Southern Orthopedic Specialists, P.C. (2001)
• Member of eight professional societies

Professional and civic contributions

• Participates in the NFL Alumni Association’s Caring for Kids
• Volunteer coach for Mountain Brook (Alabama) Athletics
•  Active participant in the Mountain Brook (Alabama) Sports Corporation, which supports high school athletics
• Church deacon

Jack Del Rio, Southern California

Football and baseball

Public administration

NFL head coach

Collegiate achievements

• Four-year starter for the Southern California football team
• Named consensus All-American and runner-up as Lombardi Trophy winner as a senior
• Named as co-Most Valuable Player of the 1985 Rose Bowl
• Batted .340 as a catcher for the Trojans baseball in 1983 and 1984
• Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays out of high school in 1981

Professional achievements

• Currently in his 24th overall season in the NFL and his seventh as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars
• Guided the Jaguars to playoff berths twice in the past two years
• Served as linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens team that won Super Bowl XXXV in 2001
• Compiled 1,078 tackles, 12 sacks, 13 interceptions and more than 100 consecutive starts as an NFL player with New Orleans, Kansas City, Dallas and Minnesota

Professional and civic contributions

• Established the Jack Del Rio Foundation in 2008 to help improve the lives of children in northeast Florida by assisting programs that aid in their development, education and enrichment
• Actively supports the American Cancer Society in Jacksonville as well as numerous other charities in his hometown of Hayward, California, and in New Orleans, where he was a player and coach for the Saints

Doug Flutie, Boston College

Football

Communications

Analyst for ABC/ESPN

Collegiate achievements

• Won the Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp Award, Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and the Maxwell Club Trophy in 1984
• Guided Boston College to three bowl wins, including the 1984 Cotton Bowl
• Holds school records for career yards (10,579), touchdowns in a game (6) and yards in a game (520)
• Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007

Professional achievements

• Only player in Canadian Football League history to win four straight Most Outstanding Player of the Year awards and earned a total of six during his career
• Led teams to three Grey Cup championships in the CFL
• First CFL player to throw for 6,000 yards in a season
• Posted a 21-10 record as quarterback for the NFL Buffalo Bills (1998-00)
• Named as the NFL’s 1998-99 Comeback Player of the Year and selected to the Pro Bowl that same season
• First non-Canadian elected to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame

Professional and civic contributions

• President and co-founder of the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism with his wife, Laurie, in honor of their son, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. The foundation  financially aids disadvantaged families who need assistance caring for children with autism and raises funds for education and research of autism
• Raised more than $10 million for autism through donations, fund-raisers and endorsement promotions

Jackie Joyner-Kersee, UCLA

Outdoor track and basketball

History

Philanthropist

Collegiate achievements

• School and NCAA record holder in long jump and heptathlon
• Two-time NCAA champion in the heptathlon (1982 and 1983)
• Recipient of the 1984-85 Honda Broderick Cup as the top female athlete in the nation
• Four-year starter on the Bruins women’s basketball team
• First-team all-Pacific-10 selection in basketball

Professional achievements

• Six-time Olympic medalist in the long jump and heptathlon (three golds, one silver and three bronzes)
• Became the first woman to compile more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon at the 1986 Goodwill Games
• Four-time world champion in the long jump and the heptathlon
• IAAF world record holder in the heptathlon
• USA Track and Field American record holder in the long jump
• Three-time Track and Field News World Athlete of the Year
• Named as the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20^th Century by Sports Illustrated (1991)

Professional and civic contributions

• Raised more than $12 million to build the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Youth Center Foundation in her hometown of East St. Louis, Illinois
• Co-founder of Jackie Joyner-Kersee Racing (NASCAR)
• Motivational speaker
• Spokesperson for asthma sufferers and the Nike PLAY program

Maureen O’Toole-Purcell, Hawaii

Swimming and water polo

Physical education

Coach/speaker

College achievements

• 26-time All-American in water polo
• Three-time All-American in swimming

Professional achievements

• Only water polo athlete to participate in the first FINA Women’s World Cup, first FINA Women’s World Championships and first women’s water polo tournament at the Olympics
• Olympic silver medalist in water polo (2000)
• Competed with U.S. Women’s Water Polo National Team for 22 years 
• Earned four gold, four silver and three bronze medals in world championship competition
• Named most valuable player in the U.S. Water Polo National Championships 15 times and chosen as most valuable player six times in world competition
• Two-time National Collegiate Water Polo Coach of the Year as head women’s coach at Cal, where she guided the Bruins to a 125-14 mark from 1995-98

Professional and civic contributions

• Founder of the Pursuit of Excellence Sports Academy, a nonprofit foundation that teaches self-esteem and leadership skills in a sport environment for girls ages 8 to 18
• Member of board of directors and serves as a motivational speaker for the Women’s Sports Foundation
• Active participates with the Special Olympics as a committee member, fund-raiser and volunteer aquatics coach
• Author of book “Becoming a Better You”

Deb Richard, Florida

Women’s golf

Advertising

Foundation president and chairperson

Collegiate achievements

• Guided Florida to its first NCAA women’s golf national championship in 1985
• Earned the Honda Broderick Cup as the top female golf athlete
• Only women’s golf student-athlete in SEC history to earn three league championships
• 1984 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion
• Inaugural recipient of the SEC’s Women’s Golfer of the Year honor in 1985

Professional achievements

• Posted six career LPGA wins and 71 top 10 finishes
• Member of the United States’ 1992 Solheim Cup team
• Retired in 2005 with more than $2.75 million in career earnings
• Served as LGPA senior vice-president of golf in 2006
• Created a leadership program that became the Soaring with Eagles Foundation, which will launch national programming for high school seniors and college freshman in 2010

Professional and civic contributions

• Established the Deb Richard Foundation in 1995 to award college scholarships to physically challenged kids. To date, the scholarship program has awarded 13 five-year grants of $25,000 and has been endowed at the University of Florida
• Named as recipient of the Sports Illustrated for Kids Good Sports Award
• Established a pro-am for the American Juvenile Arthritis Foundation
• Recipient of Florida’s Distinguished Alumnus Award (2004)