The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor

James A. Rhodes James Allen Rhodes (September 13, 1909 – March 4, 2001) was an American attorney and Republican politician who served as the 61st and 63rd Governor of Ohio from 1963 to 1971 and from 1975 to 1983. Rhodes was one of only seven U.S. governors ...

, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More than a decade later, his son Sam Nicola Jr. took over the Touchdown Club. On January 22, 2020, the president of the Touchdown Club of Columbus, Curt Boster, announced on the club's Facebook page the cancellation of the awards, citing difficulty of maintaining the event without a title sponsor.

Awards

The Touchdown Club of Columbus gave several awards to recognize outstanding athletes.

Sammy Baugh Trophy

The Sammy Baugh Trophy was awarded annually to the nation's top collegiate passer. It is named after TCU quarterback

Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football quarterback who played 16 seasons with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the TCU Horne ...

Jim Brown Trophy

This honor went to the NCAA's top running back, named after Syracuse fullback

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional American football, football player, civil rights activist, and actor. He played as a Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the ...

Paul Warfield Trophy

Named after Ohio State wide receiver

Paul Warfield Paul Dryden Warfield (born November 28, 1942) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1977 for the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins, except for a year in t ...

, this honor was given to the nation's top collegiate

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Jim Parker Trophy

Given yearly to the top collegiate

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

. Named after Ohio State guard Jim Parker.

Bill Willis Trophy

Named after Ohio State middle guard

Bill Willis William Karnet Willis (October 5, 1921 – November 27, 2007) was an American professional football middle guard and guard who played for eight seasons with the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Foo ...

, this award was given yearly to the top collegiate

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

Jack Lambert Trophy

Named after Kent State linebacker Jack Lambert, this award was given yearly to the top collegiate

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

Jack Tatum Trophy

Starting in 1991, the Jack Tatum Trophy was given yearly to the top collegiate

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. It is named after the legendary Ohio State safety

Jack Tatum John David Tatum (November 18, 1948 – July 27, 2010) was an American professional American football, football Safety (gridiron football position), safety who played 10 seasons from 1971 through 1980 with the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Oi ...

Archie Griffin Award

The Archie Griffin Award was given to college football's most valuable player for the entire season. It was named after the only two-time

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

winner, Ohio State running back

Archie Griffin Archie Mason Griffin (born August 21, 1954) is an American former football running back who played with the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, wh ...

Chic Harley Award

Named after Ohio State halfback

Chic Harley Charles Wesley "Chic" Harley (September 15, 1895 – April 21, 1974) was an American football player and athlete, often credited with bringing Ohio State University's football program to national attention. Harley was Ohio State's first consens ...

, this award was presented to the College Football Player of the Year.

Kellen Moore Award

Previously called the Quarterback of the Year Award, this accolade differed from the Sammy Baugh Trophy in that it went to the top quarterback, rather than the top passer. Its name was changed to its current identity in 2012, honoring two-time winner

Kellen Moore Kellen Christopher Moore (born July 5, 1988) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boise Sta ...

, who became the FBS all-time leader in wins by a quarterback after going 50–3 as the starter for the

Boise State Broncos The Boise State Broncos are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Boise State University, located in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mount ...

Ozzie Newsome Award

Named after Alabama tight end

Ozzie Newsome Ozzie Newsome Jr. (born March 16, 1956) is an American professional football executive and former player who is the executive vice president of player personnel of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Newsome was a tight ...

, this award was presented annually to the top collegiate

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

Woody Hayes Trophy

Named after long-time Ohio State head football coach

Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at Denison University from 1946 to 1948, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from 1949 to 195 ...

, this award recognized the top collegiate coach.

Zuppke Award

Named after Illinois head coach

Robert Zuppke Robert Carl Zuppke (July 2, 1879 – December 22, 1957) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Illinois—now known as the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign–from 1913 until 1941, compili ...

, the Zuppke Award trophy was given to the Touchdown Club of Columbus's selection for national champion college football team.

Freshman of the Year

This award was given yearly to the top college football newcomer.

Vlade Award

Named in honor of Vlade Janakievski, one of the most accurate placekickers in Ohio State football history, this award was given yearly to the most accurate college football

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

Paul Brown Trophy

Named after founder/head coach of both the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals

Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 – August 5, 1991) was an American American football, football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), the National Football League (NFL), and the American Football League (AFL). ...

, this trophy was presented annually to the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

Coach of the Year.

Joe F. Carr Trophy

Named after

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) commissioner

Joseph Carr Joseph Francis Carr (October 22, 1879 – May 20, 1939) was an American sports executive in football, baseball, and basketball. He is best known as the president of the National Football League from 1921 until 1939. He was also one of the foun ...

, this trophy was presented annually (from 1955 to 1981) to the NFL Player of the Year. During a three-year span (1967–1969), there were an award for both the NFL and the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL).

Sam B. Nicola Trophy

Named for the club's founder, this trophy was presented annually to the National High School Player of the Year.

James A. Rhodes Trophy

The James A. Rhodes Trophy was awarded annually to the Ohio High School player of the year. It was named for former

Governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

, who was state auditor when he made the suggestion that led to the founding of the Touchdown Club of Columbus. * 1969 – Steve Mauger, Massillon * 1970 – Ted McNulty, Upper Arlington * 1971 – Rick Middleton, Delaware Hayes * 1972 –

, Eastmoor * 1973 – Mike Gayles, Cincinnati Princeton * 1974 – Ted Bell, Youngstown Mooney * 1975 – John Ziepler, Warren Harding * 1976 – Joe Portale, St Edward * 1977 – Tim Koegel, Cincinnati Moeller * 1978 –

Art Schlichter Arthur Ernest Schlichter (, born April 25, 1960) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons with the Baltimore / Indianapolis Colts franchise. He also played one Ca ...

, Miami Trace * 1979 – Ken Roundtree, Cincinnati Moeller * 1980 – Eric Ellington, Cincinnati Moeller * 1981 – Mark Brooks, Cincinnati Moeller * 1982 – Tony Grant, Fremont Ross * 1983 – Hiawatha Francisco, Cincinnati Moeller * 1984 –

Chris Spielman Charles Christopher Spielman (born October 11, 1965) is an American former professional football player who is a special assistant to the owner and CEO for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played linebacker for the O ...

, Massillon * 1985 – Mark Kamphous, Cincinnati Moeller * 1986 – Jeff Davidson, Westerville North * 1987 – Carlos Snow, Cincinnati Academy * 1988 – Ronald Howe, Zanesville * 1989 – Roger Harper, Columbus Independence * 1990 – Robert Smith, Euclid * 1991 –

Korey Stringer Korey Damont Stringer (May 8, 1974 – August 1, 2001) was an American professional football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and was recogn ...

, Warren Harding * 1992 –

Mike Vrabel Michael George Vrabel ( ; born August 14, 1975) is an American professional American football, football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college footba ...

, Walsh Jesuit * 1993 – Dee Miller, Springfield * 1994 –

Charles Woodson Charles Cameron Woodson (born October 7, 1976) is an American former professional football player who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers. He spent his first 14 seasons as ...

, Fremont Ross * 1995 –

Andy Katzenmoyer Andrew Warren Katzenmoyer (born December 2, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Patriots in the first round (28 ...

, Westerville South * 1996 – Derek Combs, Grove City * 1997 – Tony Fisher, Euclid * 1998 – Mike Doss, Canton McKinley * 1999 – Brandon Childress, Cleveland Chanel * 2000 – Jeff Backes, Upper Arlington * 2000 – Maurice Hall, Columbus Brookhaven * 2001 – Justin Zwick, Massillon Washington * 2001 – Maurice Clarett, Warren Harding * 2002 –

Donte Whitner Donte Demetrius Whitner Sr. (born July 24, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, and was selected by the Buffalo ...

, Cleveland Glenville * 2003 –

Ted Ginn Jr. Theodore Ginn Jr. (born April 12, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Car ...

, Cleveland Glenville * 2004 – Jamario O'Neal, Cleveland Glenville * 2005 – Chris Wells, Akron Garfield * 2006 –

Brandon Saine Brandon Croft Saine (born December 14, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Sain ...

, Piqua * 2007 –

Jake Stoneburner Jacob Charles Stoneburner (born August 25, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by t ...

, Dublin Coffman * 2008 – Zach Boren, Pickerington Central * 2009 – Braxton Miller, Huber Heights Wayne * 2010 – Braxton Miller, Huber Heights Wayne * 2011 –

Maty Mauk Mathew "Maty" Richard Mauk (born June 13, 1993) is a former American football quarterback. He is currently the head football coach at Principia School, located in Town and Country, West St. Louis County. He played college football for the Mi ...

, Kenton * 2012 –

Mitch Trubisky Mitchell David Trubisky ( ; born August 20, 1994) is an American professional football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels and was selected second ...

, Mentor * 2013 – Grant Sherman, Kenton * 2014 –

Joe Burrow Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes football, O ...

, Athens * 2015 * 2016 – Daniel Bangura, Harvest Prep * 2017 – Isaiah Bowser, Sidney * 2018 – Mark Waid, Girard

Male Athlete of the Year

* 2007 – Dalton Carriker, Little League World Series * 2008 –

Myron Rolle Myron L. Rolle (born October 30, 1986) is an American neurosurgeon and former professional football safety. He played college football at Florida State, and was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL draft. He attend ...

, Florida State football * 2009 – Jake Coffman, Northern Illinois * 2010 – Owen Marecic, Stanford football * 2011 –

Chandler Harnish Chandler Harnish (born July 28, 1988) is an American former professional football quarterback. He was the final pick of the 2012 NFL draft, selected 253rd overall by the Indianapolis Colts, becoming Mr. Irrelevant 2012. He played college footba ...

, Northern Illinois football * 2012 –

Johnny Manziel Johnathan Paul Manziel ( ; born December 6, 1992), nicknamed "Johnny Football", is an American former football quarterback. He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies and was the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. He played prof ...

, Texas A&M football * 2013 – Keenan Reynolds, Navy football * 2014 –

Logan Stieber Logan Stieber (born January 24, 1991) is an American former freestyle and folkstyle wrestler, who competed internationally at 61 and 65 kilograms. In the Olympic year of 2016, he won the non-Olympic weight World Championship at 61 kg, and in ...

, Ohio State wrestling * 2015 – Reggie Owens, South Carolina State * 2016 –

Andrew Beckwith Andrew Beckwith (born March 22, 1995) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Career Beckwith attended Blythewood High School in Blythewood, South Carolina, prior to enrolling at Coastal Carolina University. In 2016, he was named th ...

, Coastal Carolina baseball * 2017 –

Shaquem Griffin Shaquem Alphonso Griffin (born July 20, 1995) is an American former professional linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He is the twin brother of Shaquill Griffin, and both brothers played college footb ...

UCF football The UCF Knights football team represents the University of Central Florida in the sport of American football. The Knights compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and are a ...

* 2018 – Antwan Dixon, Kent State football

Female Athlete of the Year

* 2007 – Courtney Kupets, Georgia * 2008 –

Angela Tincher Angela Tincher O'Brien (born Angela Susan Tincher; December 16, 1985) is an American, former collegiate All-American, retired professional All-Star softball pitcher and coach. She most recently served as the pitching coach at Virginia Tech. She ...

, Virginia Tech * 2009 – Megan Hodge, Penn State volleyball * 2010 –

Katie Spotz Katie Spotz (born 1987) is an American adventurer who became the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, departing from Dakar, Senegal on January 3, 2010, and landing in Guyana on March 14, 2010. She was the first person to have sw ...

, adventurer * 2011 – None * 2012 –

Kayla Harrison Kayla Jean Harrison (born July 2, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist and former judoka. She currently competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the current UFC Wo ...

, judo (Olympic gold medalist) * 2013 –

Micha Hancock Micha Danielle Hancock ( ; born November 10, 1992) is an American indoor volleyball player for the United States women's national volleyball team. Hancock played setter for the Penn State women's volleyball team, and won back-to-back national ...

, Penn State * 2014 – Lauren Hill, Mount St. Joseph basketball * 2015 – Margo Geer, Arizona * 2016 – None * 2017 – Sabrina Anderson, Slippery Rock * 2018 – Sidney Peters

President's Award

* 2011 – Jordan White, Western Michigan University * 2011 – Ross Franklin, Johnstown High School * 2012 – Zac Dysert, Miami University * 2013 –

Ryan Switzer Ryan Switzer (born November 4, 1994) is an American football coach and former professional football player who is currently the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. He previously played as a wide rec ...

, North Carolina * 2013 – Cartel Brooks, Heidelberg College * 2014 –

Cardale Jones Cardale Jones (; born September 29, 1992) is an American former professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he was a CFP national champion, and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth ...

, Ohio State University * 2015 – Kody Kasey, Georgetown College * 2016 –

Joshua Dobbs Robert Joshua Dobbs (born January 26, 1995) is an American professional football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers, and was selected by the Pitt ...

, Tennessee * 2018 –

Jeff Monken Jeffrey Michael Monken (born April 15, 1967) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at the Army Black Knights football, United States Military Academy, a position he has held since 2014. Monken previously served as ...

, Army West Point

TDC Lifetime Achievement Award

The Touchdown Club also gave the annual TDC Lifetime Achievement Award to a selected athlete. * 1991 – Olga Korbut, Olympic Gymnastics * 1992 – Nadia Comăneci, Olympic Gymnastics * 1993 – Evander Holyfield, Boxing * 1994 – Jerry Lucas, Basketball Hall of Fame * 1995 – Sparky Anderson, Baseball Hall of Fame * 1996 – Bobby Hull, Hockey Hall of Fame * 1997 – Jim Brown, Football Hall of Fame * 1998 – George Steinbrenner, New York Yankees * 1999 * 2000 – Lamar Hunt, American Football League * 2001 * 2002 * 2003 – Hopalong Cassady, College Football Hall of Fame * 2004 – Joe Nuxhall, Baseball * 2005 * 2006 – John Havlicek, Basketball Hall of Fame * 2006 – Bevo Francis, Basketball * 2007 * 2008 – Chuck Ealey, Football * 2009 – Archie Griffin, College Football Hall of Fame * 2010 – Coach Chris Ault, College Football Hall of Fame * 2011 – Coach Chuck Kyle, Football * 2012 – Coach Tom Osborne, College Football Hall of Fame * 2013 * 2014 * 2015 – Coach Don Donoher, Football * 2016 – Peter Hanson, Ohio State volleyball * 2017 –

Larry Kehres Larry Kehres (born September 7, 1949) is an American college football coach and college athletics administrator. He was the head football coach at Mount Union for 27 seasons from 1986 to 2012. Kehres retired from coaching in May 2013 with a reco ...

, Mount Union football * 2018 –

Katie Smith Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes women's basketball team. She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty. A retired professional baske ...

, Naismith and

Women's A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

Basketball Halls of Fame

FCS Player of the Year

References

External links

* {{NFL awards College football awards organizations 1956 establishments in Ohio