National Football Foundation Gold Medal Winners Each football season , The National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame pays tribute to a select few with awards of excellence for exhibiting superior qualities of scholarship , citizenship and leadership . Additionally , the Foundation also recognizes individuals who demonstrate outstanding support for the NFF and its mission of promoting the game of amateur football . The NFF Gold Medal is the highest award offered by the NFF . Gold Medal Qualifications . Recipient ’ s life must reflect the values of those who have excelled in amateur sport , particularly football . He or she must have achieved success in an industrial , business , financial , educational , professional or related career and American citizen , most of whose business life has been spent in the United States . Moreover , they must have an unblemished reputation for honesty and integrity . Additionally , he or she must have " contributed notably in public service to the welfare of his country and fellow citizens , " either as a private citizen or as a government official or both . and have shown a capacity for dedicated institutional commitment to the problem of our competitive economy versus a centrally dictated society and a concern for the human spirit as well as the mind . Recipient may be an elected or appointed federal or state government official , or a member of Congress or any state legislative body , however , they shall not be selected because of political power or on a partisan basis . Selection Process . Various individuals associated with The National Football Foundation , such as former recipients , board members , corporate leaders , chapter presidents and friends , send nominations and suggestions to the NFF Chairman . Selection of the recipient is made by the Awards Committee and ratified by the Board of Directors . National Football Foundation Gold Medal Winners . 1958 - Dwight D . Eisenhower 1959 - Douglas MacArthur 1960 - Herbert C . Hoover and Amos Alonzo Stagg 1961 - John F . Kennedy 1962 - Byron " Whizzer " White 1963 - Roger Q . Blough 1964 - Donold B . Lourie 1965 - Juan T . Trippe 1966 - Earl H . " Red " Blaik 1967 - Frederick L . Hovde 1968 - Chester J . LaRoche 1969 - Richard M . Nixon 1970 - Thomas J . Hamilton 1971 - Ronald W . Reagan 1972 - Gerald R . Ford 1973 - John Wayne 1974 - Gerald B . Zornow 1975 - David Packard 1976 - Edgar B . Speer 1977 - Louis H . Wilson 1978 - Vincent dePaul Draddy 1979 - William P . Lawrence 1980 - Walter J . Zable 1981 - Justin W . Dart 1982 - Silver Anniversary Awards ( NCAA ) - All Honored Jim Brown , Willie Davis , Jack Kemp , Ron Kramer , Jim Swink 1983 - Jack Kemp 1984 - John F . McGillicuddy 1985 - William I . Spencer 1986 - William H . Morton 1987 - Charles R . Meyer 1988 - Clinton E . Frank 1989 - Paul Brown 1990 - Thomas H . Moorer 1991 - George H . Bush 1992 - Donald R . Keough 1993 - Norman Schwarzkopf 1994 - Thomas S . Murphy 1995 - Harold Alfond 1996 - Gene Corrigan 1997 - Jackie Robinson 1998 - John H . McConnell 1999 - Keith Jackson 2000 - Fred M . Kirby II 2001 - Billy Joe " Red " McCombs 2002 - George M . Steinbrenner III 2003 - General Tommy R . Franks ( Ret . ) 2004 - William V . Campbell 2005 - Jon F . Hanson 2006 - Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden 2007 - Pete Dawkins and Roger Staubach 2008 - John Glenn 2009 - Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman 2010 - Bill Cosby 2011 - Robert Gates