Bucs Personnel Executive Doug Williams will be honored for his outstanding character development, physical fitness, and scholastic achievement
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Personnel Executive Doug Williams will head to Walt Disney World on Saturday to receive the Joseph J. Tomlin Award at the Pop Warner Scholar All-American Banquet.
More than 300,000 boys and girls between the ages of five and 16 participate in football, cheerleading and other activities available through Pop Warner programs around the United States. Pop Warner also places a significant emphasis on academic success, as evidenced by its annual Scholar All-American Banquet, now in its 44th year.
This year's banquet will recognize 4,300 youth football players, cheerleaders and dancers as Scholar All-Americans, all of whom must have a 96% or better grade point average to apply. At the banquet, various other community figures will also be honored, including the Bucs' Williams.
The Tomlin award, named for the man who founded the Pop Warner program in Northeast Philadelphia in 1929, is presented annually to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding character development, physical fitness, and scholastic achievement. Williams, a former first-round pick of the Buccaneers, a Super Bowl MVP with the Washington Redskins and a title-winning coach at Grambling, fits the bill in every category.
Williams, who recently returned to the Bucs to work in the team's pro scouting department, spent the first five seasons of his NFL career in Tampa and remains one of the most accomplished players in team history. After a stint in the USFL, he returned to the NFL with the Redskins and helped lead Washington to a 42-10 victory in Super Bowl XXII. Williams, the first black quarterback to start a Super Bowl, was named MVP of that contest after passing for 340 yards and four touchdowns.
From 1998-2003, Williams served as the head coach at Grambling, his alma mater. His Tigers won three consecutive conference championships (2000-02), and he was named Street and Smith's Black College Coach of the Year in 2000.
Other honorees at this year's Pop Warner Scholar All-American Banquet include former Congressman and NFL quarterback Jack Kemp, Oakland Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown and University of Maryland Head Cheerleading Coach Lura Fleece. All are being recognized for their achievements and service to education and youth sports. Also, for the first year, two NFL clubs are being honored for their service towards Pop Warner programs. The inaugural "Pop Warner-NFL Team of the Year" awards are being presented to the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers. This year's event will be emceed by ESPN College Gameday's co-host Lee Corso.
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McFarland Joins Selmon at the Hall of Fame
Buccaneers DT Anthony McFarland will visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio as a participant in the "2004 Best of Yesterday and Today" series on Saturday, May 29.
As a part of the event, McFarland and Hall of Fame Buccaneer DE Lee Roy Selmon will join Mel Renfro, a standout in the secondary of the Dallas Cowboys from 1964-77, in a special three-hour autograph session held in the Hall's NFL Films Theater. Saturday's event will be the finale in a four-part series that began on May 1.
This year's edition of the Best of Yesterday and Today includes Hall of Famers Lem Barney, Elvin Bethea, Joe DeLamielleure, Renfro, Selmon, Billy Shaw and Jack Youngblood; and present-day standouts Mike Doss, Jeff Garcia, McFarland and Kenny Peterson.
