Minnesota Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame

The Minnesota Chapter will present the 2011 Distinguished Minnesotan Award to Ray Christensen for his contributions to Minnesota football. Christensen's career in broadcasting began at University of Minnesota radio station KUOM. He joined WCCO Minneapolis/Saint Paul in 1963, where he was involved with not only sportscasting but also news and music. For 50 consecutive years (1951-2000), Christensen was the play-by-play announcer for Gopher football, calling 510 games. He also handled play-by-play duties for Gopher basketball for 45 years (1956-2001), tallying 1,309 games. Though widely known as the Voice of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Christensen has broadcast Minnesota Twins baseball, Minnesota Vikings football, Minneapolis Lakers basketball, golf, and hockey.

Christensen's professional work and dedication to the community have garnered numerous awards, including a University of Minnesota Alumni Service Award (1991), a place in the M Club Hall of Fame (1995), and a Mitchell Charnley Distinguished Service Award (2001). In 2000, the National Football Foundation honored Christensen with the Chris Schenkel Award, which recognizes a sports broadcaster who has enjoyed a long and distinguished career broadcasting college football at a single institution. Christensen was given the Ray Scott Award for Excellence in Sportscasting in 2001, and in 2002, Christensen was inducted into the Minnesota Broadcasting Museum Hall of Fame. A banner honoring Christensen hangs in Williams Arena, and the home radio broadcasting booth at TCF Bank Stadium bears Christensen's name.

For ten years, Christensen recorded Talking Books for the Blind, and he is the author of two books: Golden Memories (1993), coauthored with Stew Thornley, and Gopher Tales (2002). Christensen and his wife, Ramona, have three children and six grandchildren.

Todd Fultz will be awarded the 2011 Courage Award. After sustaining serious injuries in a head-on vehicle collision on June 5, 2008, Fultz faced a long recovery. Fultz has said of his experience, which included five major surgeries and having to learn to walk again, “It has been a challenging two years of recovery but through this I have learned gratefulness, seen love, and felt true compassion like no other time in my life."

An active member of the Minnesota football community, Fultz played football for legendary coach and past NFFMN keynote speaker John Gagliardi and coach Jim Smith. In 1990 Fultz was named MVP of the St. John’s University football team after breaking numerous receiving records and setting two NCAA playoff records. Fultz was also an assistant high school football coach under coaches Mike Grant and George Thole, and he was the head coach of the Minneapolis Lumberjacks, leading the squad to the 1997 MFL championship. Fultz was the co-creator (with Anthony LaPanta) of the John Gagliardi Show, which aired on MSC in the mid 1990s.

Fultz chronicles his recovery process and the connections he forged with friends and family in his book The Year of Small Victories (Victory Press). A longtime entrepreneur, Fultz currently owns Hail Pros, The Roofing Specialist. He and his wife, Erica, have three children.

Gordon L. “Gordy” Graham is the 2011 recipient of the Fred Zamberletti Award. The award, named for the legendary athletic trainer for the Minnesota Vikings, honors an outstanding Minnesotan athletic trainer(active or retired) who has had strong impact in the athletic training profession.

Rochester native Gordy Graham was Head Athletic Trainer at the University of Minnesota Mankato from 1964-1993. For the first 10 years of his tenure at then-named Mankato State, Graham was not only the head athletic trainer but the only athletic trainer at the university. As an instructor and Curriculum Director, Graham developed one of the first three National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA)-approved athletic training curriculums in 1969, which would eventually become the athletic training major at the university. Because of Graham's efforts, Mankato can claim to have the nation’s oldest, continually accredited athletic training education program.

 Graham also helped organize and was the first president of the Minnesota Athletic Trainer’s Association. Throughout his distinguished career, Graham was sought as a guest speaker and instructor in Minnesota and nationally.

Graham was inducted into the North Central Conference Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1993, he was a charter inductee into the Minnesota Athletic Trainers Hall of Fame, in a class that included Fred Zamberletti and past Zamberletti award-winner Jim Marshall. Graham currently serves as Consulting Hall of Fame Representative for the organization. In 1994, Graham was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame and has served on the NATA board.

 Graham and his wife, Donna, have four sons.

Jerry Seeman will be honored with the 2011 Outstanding Officiating Award. To earn the Outstanding Officiating Award, an official (active or retired) must have 25-plus years of experience officiating at a high school, college, or professional level; officiated games at the local, regional, and national levels; must be highly respected by peers and coaches; has given back given back as a mentor to the officiating community.

While an active official, Seeman worked at all levels of organized football. A native of Plainview, MN, he was a standout athlete in football, basketball, and baseball and went on to play football and basketball at Winona State. From 1963 to 1972, Seeman officiated high school football and basketball games for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and in Wisconsin for the Wisconsin State University College Conference. In 1972, Seeman accepted a position as referee in the Big Ten Conference. In 1975, after only 12 years of officiating experience, Seeman was hired by the NFL.

During his 16 seasons as a line judge, head linesman, and referee in the NFL, Seeman was selected to officiate in 15 playoff games, including two Pro Bowls and two Super Bowls: XXIII in 1989 and XXV in 1991, and was an alternate referee for Super Bowl XIV in 1980. Super Bowl XXV was the last game he officiated. From 1992-2000, Seeman served as the Senior Director of Officiating for the NFL. During his tenure, Seeman modernized the training and grading system for officials, and communication increased between his office and NFL teams. Seeman is also credited for on-field improvements to the game. He simplified rules to make it easier for game officials to make calls and developed and implemented the current instant replay system.

Seeman was inducted into the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2001, Seeman was presented with the Inaugural National Association of Sports Officials Mel Narol Medallion Award. Seeman and his wife, Marilyn, have three sons, one of whom is currently an official in the NFL.

For the first time this year, the NFFMN will present the Bob Stein College Scholar-Athlete Award. Bob Stein was the first collegiate football player in Minnesota to receive the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award. While attending the University of Minnesota, Stein was a two-time football and academic All-America selection. He went on to play in the NFL for eight seasons and finished his law degree in the top 10% of his class while playing for the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bob Stein College Scholar-Athlete Award honors an individual who demonstrates uncommon excellence in athletics and academics at the collegiate level.

The 2011 recipient of the Bob Stein College Scholar-Athlete Award is Isaac Odim, a senior from University of Minnesota Duluth. He was one of 16 National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete award winners in 2010 and was named ESPN Academic All-American of the Year in Division II. Odim earned Dean's List for Academic Excellence every semester, was named NSIC All-Academic team in 2009 and 2010, and will graduate in May 2011 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Odim is UMD’s first three-time football All-American. Named NSIC Offensive Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010, he owns 17 UMD single-game, single-season, and career records and was a key contributor on UMD’s NCAA Division II Championship teams in 2008 and 2010. Odim has demonstrated leadership and service to his collegiate community as UMD football captain, Vice President of the Mortar Board National Honor Society, Tau Delta Chapter. He is the corresponding secretary of the Minnesota Chapter of the Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society and a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.