Allstate Sugar Bowl Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of FameIn January of 2000, the Sugar Bowl Committee took over the title sponsorship of the New Orleans Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. Included in the Bowl's sponsorship of the chapter is the administration of an annual awards banquet held each spring to honor deserving high school football scholar athletes from the metropolitan area. Sugar Bowl Member Archie Manning is the national chairman of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. To become a member of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, please click here.

In 2012, 34 local high school football players (pictured above) were honored as NFF Scholar-Athletes and four of those were presented with $10,000 Allstate Sugar Bowl Scholarship checks: Keith Accardo (Archbishop Rummel H.S.), Caleb Gestes (John Curtis Christian School), Joseph Palmisano (East Jefferson H.S.) and Alex Yacoubian (Jesuit H.S.).

Elliott Laudeman, the longest-tenured active member of the Sugar Bowl Committee, was presented with the Distinguished American Award. This honor is presented to a person who has made significant contributions to the betterment of amateur football in America. Laudeman, who was elected to the Sugar Bowl membership in 1957, served as the President of the organization in 1985, and remains very active in the group, which has provided the region an economic impact of over $2 billion in the last decade alone. In 1967, Laudeman was integral in the establishment of the New Orleans Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame and through the years, his tireless work for the NFF kept the chapter strong. In 2000, his association with the organization was further strengthened as the Sugar Bowl took over sponsorship of the local chapter.

Vince Gibson, who served as the head football coach at Kansas State, Louisville and Tulane, posthumously received the Contribution to Amateur Football Award. Gibson, who played football at Florida State University, went into coaching immediately after graduating in 1955. His first position was at South Georgia College as the only assistant coach for future Hall-of-Famer Bobby Bowden. He left South Georgia to coach at his alma mater, laying the groundwork for Bowden to eventually join the Seminole staff. After a three-year stint at Tennessee, Gibson took over the head position at Kansas State, bringing the Wildcat program to respectability, including its  first winning season since 1954, its first national ranking in history,  and its first wins over Nebraska and Oklahoma in many years. He also directed both Louisville and Tulane to bowl appearances before retiring in 1982. He remained in New Orleans where he passed away this January after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at the age of 78. His wife, Cecile, accepted on his behalf.

2012: Thirty-Four Local Scholar-Athletes Honored by Sugar Bowl and NFF
2011: Allstate Sugar Bowl and NFF Honor 35 Scholar-Athletes
2010: NFF Honors Local High School Football Players
2009: Talented Class of Honorees at 2009 NFF/College Football Hall of Fame Luncheon
2008: Nineteen Honored at 2008 Football Foundation Luncheon
2007: Sugar Bowl Honors Standouts at 2007 NFF Awards Luncheon
2006: No class recognized due to Hurricane Katrina
2005: Listing of the 2004-05 NFF Scholar Athletes
2004: Listing of the 2003-04 NFF Scholar Athletes

Allstate Sugar Bowl Chapter of the NFF/CFHOF Special Awards