Tony Dungy awarded NCAA’s highest honor

Former Golden Gopher quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champion Tony Dungy was presented with the Theodore Roosevelt Award on Friday at the NCAA Convention.

Dungy, who played for the Gophers from 1973-76, was presented the award by University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler and Athletic Director Norwood Teague.

The award is the highest honor the NCAA can bestow on an individual and it is given annually to an person “for whom competitive athletics in college and attention to physical well-being thereafter have been important factors in a distinguished career of national significance and achievement.”

The first honoree to receive the award was former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1967. Since then, three other U.S. Presidents have been awarded the honor named after the 26th President.

Dungy is the second Gopher to accept the award — the first was Frederick L. Hovde in 1970. Hovde played football for the Gophers and would become the president of Purdue.

Other notable winners include Bill Cosby, Jesse Owens, John Wooden, Bob Dole, Bill Richardson, Alan Page, Sally Ride and John Glenn.