Jan 15, 2010 11:49:58 PM

ATLANTA – Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell and former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow were among the many individuals honored for their contributions to intercollegiate athletics at Friday's Honors Celebration at the NCAA Convention in Atlanta.

Among the highlights of the evening was the presentation of the Association's highest honor – the Theodore Roosevelt Award – to Mitchell for his decades-long career as a public servant.

Mitchell is the second Bowdoin graduate to earn the "Teddy." In 2001, the NCAA presented former U.S. Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen with the award.

"If you really try, you can succeed even if you may not be the best at what you are doing." Mitchell said in his acceptance remarks.

Mitchell was a four-year member of the basketball team at Bowdoin before completing a two-year stint in the military. He intended to practice law but ended up in politics.

Mitchell has since gone on to compete at the highest levels of the national and international legal and political arenas. In addition to a stint as a federal judge and his 14-year tenure in the Senate (where he spent six years as Senate majority leader), Mitchell has been heavily involved in peace negotiations in Northern Ireland and between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. President Obama has appointed Mitchell as a special envoy to the Middle East.

Other awards given at the Honors Celebration included the Today's Top VIII, which recognizes accomplishments of current student-athletes. The eight recipients were:

• Tim Tebow, football, University of Florida
•  Amanda Blumenherst, golf, Duke University
•  Courtney Kupets, gymnastics, University of Georgia
• Venessa Lee, cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field, Pittsburg State University
• Jeff Lerg, ice hockey, Michigan State University
• Kent Raymond, basketball, Wheaton College (Illinois)
• Brittany Rogers, softball, Alabama
• Sarah Stevens, indoor and outdoor track, Arizona State University

Speaking on behalf of all the recipients, Pittsburg State's Lee said, "The same things that make you a good student also make you a good athlete – being driven, competitive and dedicated to something."

The NCAA also honored former student-athletes who have made contributions to athletics 25 years after their graduation. The Silver Anniversary Awards went to:

• Doug Flutie, football, Boston College
• Jackie Joyner-Kersee, outdoor track and field and basketball, University of California, Los Angles
• Jack Del Rio, football and baseball, University of Southern California
• Gregg Carr, football, Auburn University
• Maureen O'Toole-Purcell, swimming and water polo, University of Hawaii, Manoa
• Deb Richard, golf, Florida

When discussing what drove her success, Joyner-Kersee replied, "It is important to always be a student."

Inspiration Awards went to the 2007 Bluffton baseball team and former Army football student-athlete and Iraq War veteran Gregory Gadson. Five Bluffton baseball players were killed in a bus crash in March 2007, but the team came back to finish the season. Gadson lost parts of both legs after being injured in a bomb explosion while serving in Iraq but found new ways to contribute in the wake of the life-changing event.

Current Bluffton baseball player Cody McPherson in his acceptance remarks said, "It is important to know that the future is not promised, and each day is a gift. I plan on living each day for those five."

The Award of Valor was presented to Richard Phillips, a former basketball student-athlete at Massachusetts Maritime, and Roxana Saberi, a former soccer player at Concordia-Moorhead.

Phillips, captain of a merchant vessel, surrendered himself to ensure his crew's safety after pirates hijacked their ship was hijacked in the Indian Ocean. Saberi was working as a journalist in Iran when she was arrested and jailed for several months.