The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Wednesday that it will present a youth football award named for the late Chuck Noll, who won four Super Bowl championships as Steelers coach in 1970s.
Working with USA Football and corporate sponsors, the Hall of Fame will honor one youth football organization in each state with the “Chuck Noll Hall of Fame ‘Game for Life’ Award.” Winners will receive grants and cash awards for exemplifying commitment, integrity, courage, respect, and excellence, the so-called “values of football.” There will also be a grand prize for one overall winner selected from 50 state winners.
“Chuck Noll taught me to be a smarter, better and safer player,” former Steeler Merril Hoge said in a press release from the Hall of Fame. “I see the fundamentals that he taught me years ago continuing today through USA Football’s ‘Heads Up Football’ program. We need to honor and reward youth leagues dedicated to their kids, teaching the sport’s values and fundamentals the right way. Earning an award with Chuck Noll’s name on it is one of the highest honors that a community can receive.”
The Hall of Fame described Hoge as a “driving force” in creating the award named after his former coach. Noll died in 2014 and was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1993.
First Published: August 2, 2017, 9:22 p.m.