Orange Bowl Committee members Bob Griese and Dwight Stephenson will be honored in early 2011 with the Davey O’Brien Legends Award and President Gerald R. Ford Legends Award, respectively. Both Griese and O’Brien played their entire professional careers with the Miami Dolphins and are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Davey O’Brien Legends Award recognizes a college or professional quarterback who has made a significant contribution to the game of football, distinguished himself as an extraordinary leader, and demonstrated exemplary conduct on and off the football field. The award will be presented to Griese by the Davey O’Brien Foundation at the 34th Annual Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner on Feb. 21, 2011 at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
“I am honored to receive the Legends Award and to be mentioned with some of football’s greatest quarterbacks,” said Griese, who passed for 25,092 yards and 192 touchdowns and guided the Dolphins to three straight AFC championships, including wins in Super Bowl VII and VIII. He was a six-time Pro Bowl and two-time All-Pro quarterback over 14 seasons in Miami, and was also a 1984 inductee into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame as a standout signal caller at Purdue. With the acceptance of the award, Griese will join former recipients Dan Fouts (2009), Joe Theismann (2008), Steve Spurrier (2007), Paul Hornung (2006), Len Dawson (2005), Archie Manning (2004), Terry Bradshaw (2003), Bart Starr (2002), and Roger Staubach (2001).
Griese is currently a broadcaster on ESPN’s college football coverage.
Stephenson will be presented the President Gerald R. Ford Legends Award at the 11th Annual Rimington Trophy Presentation on January 15, 2011 at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Neb. “I am honored to be included in such a prestigious class of individuals who have received this award in the past,” said Stephenson. “Thanks to the Boomer Esiason Foundation for allowing me to be a part of this elite group.”
President Gerald R. Ford Award recipients must have played the center position at the collegiate or professional level, made extraordinary contributions to his team during his football career, or have proven to be an exemplary citizen, philanthropist, or leader in the business or football community. Stephenson will join former winners Jim Richter (2009), Bill Curry (2008), Alex Kroll (2007), Jim Otto (2006), and President Gerald R. Ford (2005). Legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant called Stephenson “the best center I ever coached” during Stephenson’s career at Alabama, in which he earned All-America status and was a key force on the Crimson Tide’s national championship teams of 1978 and 1979. He went on to five consecutive All-Pro seasons during his eight-year career with Miami, and was the Dolphins’ starting center in three AFC championship games and Super Bowl XVII and XIX.
Stephenson is currently President of D. Stephenson Construction, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.