KOSAR DONATES $100,000 TO SCHOLARSHIP FUND: WILL RECEIVE DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN AWARD

KOSAR DONATES $100,000 TO SCHOLARSHIP FUND: WILL RECEIVE DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN AWARD
Cleveland, Oh - Bernie Kosar is one of the most admired and respected sports figures in Northeastern Ohio - and for good reason. He represents all that is good about athletics on and off the field.
Kosar, a native of Boardman who led the Cleveland Browns to elite status in the NFL beginning in the mid-1980s, has pledged $100,000 over the next five years to the Scholarship Fund of the NEO Chapter of the National Football Foundation. The donation will be used to fund postgraduate scholarships for football players from all four-year colleges in Northeastern Ohio.
Kosar will receive the Chapter's highest honor, the Distinguished American Award, at the Chapter's 14th annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet on Monday, April 29 at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven. Ohio State's Jim Tressel will be the featured speaker. Tickets to the banquet are $40 each and tables of 10 for $400 can be ordered by calling Tim Gleason at 330-963-0444.
Trading his helmet and shoulder pads for a suit and tie, Kosar now tackles business opportunities for Precision Response Corporation, a Florida based teleservices company. He is also an active partner in the Florida Panthers hockey team and Chairman of the Board of the NFL Quarterback Club,, and was recently named to the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, the University of Miami. In December, 2001 he launched Bernie's Insider Magazine, a new sports publication.
Bernie has managed to maintain strong ties to Northeast Ohio without interruption. He serves as honorary Chairman of the Paula and Anthony Rick Center for the study and treatment of autism at Youngstown State University, and is trustee of the Bernie J. Kosar charitable trust.
In 1981, his senior year at Boardman High School, Kosar was named the Associated Press Ohio Player of the year. His college football career at the University of Miami was highlighted by the Hurricanes' 1983 national championship where he was chosen MVP of the Orange Bowl Classic. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 1985 and led them to the playoffs in each of his first five NFL seasons, winning four AFC Central Division tittles.
Bernie and his wife Babette currently reside in Weston, Florida with their three daughters, Sara, Rachel and Rebecca; and son Joseph Bernard Kosar.
OHIO STATE'S TRESSEL TO SPEAK AT 14th ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET
Cleveland, OH - Jim Tressel, head football coach at Ohio State University, will e the featured guest speaker at the 14th Annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet of the Northeastern Ohio Chapter of the National Football Foundation.
The banquet will be held on Monday, April 29 at the Executive Caterers at Landerhaven. Tickets to the banquet are $40 each and tables of 10 for $400 can be ordered by calling Tim Gleason at 330-963-0444.
Last year was literally and figuratively just the beginning for Jim Tressel as the head football coach at The Ohio State University. Named to his present position on January 18 of 2001, Tressel led his first Buckeye squad to a 7-5 record that included a dramatic road win over archrival Michigan in the regular-season finale. It was Ohio State's first victory in Ann Arbor since 1987 and, as such, a tremendously important achievement for the football program.
Under Tressel's leadership, the Buckeyes played with renewed passion and pride that demonstrated an understanding and appreciation of Ohio State's rich football tradition. In addition to giving great effort in each and every game, they conducted themselves with class and dignity on the field. Their ability to rally from a 28-0 deficit in the Outback Bowl and tie the score at 28-all is a testimony to the discipline instilled by Tressel.
Tressel's impact on the Buckeyes should come as no surprise. As the head coach at Youngstown State for 15 years before coming to Ohio State, he was one of the most respected Division 1-AA coaches in America.
And those years at Youngstown were ripe with success, his Penguin teams winning four national championships and qualifying for the Division 1-AA playoffs a remarkable 10 times. During his stay at Youngstown State, he amassed an overall record of 135-57-2 and he was a four-time pick as National Coach of the Year.
Additionally, five of Tressel's teams won 12 or more games in a season, including his 1994 championship squad, which fashioned a 14-0-1 record. His 1991, '92, '93 and '94 teams all played in the National Championship tilte, becoming just the second ever Division 1-AA school to make four consecutive appearances in the title game.
Tressel was selected as National Coach of the Year in 1991, '92,'93, '94 and '97. When he left Youngstown State, he was the second most successful coach in school history, trailing only Dwight "Deke" Beade, who amassed 147 wins in a 32-year span.