MEMPHIS, Tennessee — The third overall pick in the 1967 NFL Draft Steve Spurrier is now a winner of Distinguished Citizen Award presented by the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
The legendary football coach coached at Duke, Florida and South Carolina leading the gators to six SEC championships and the national championship in 1996.
He's a college football hall of famer as player and coach, and a Heisman winner.
However despite all of those awards, It's a local moment in high school that stands out to him most.
"I think that Christian Brothers must've left 9 or 10 guys on base and we made a bunch of errors but we ended up winning 7 to 5," said Spurrier.
Steve Spurrier, one of the most successful head coaches in the history of college football, was the guest of honor and received the AutoZone Liberty Bowl’s most prestigious recognition, the Distinguished Citizen Award, at a dinner benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The event was held at the Hilton Memphis Hotel.
Spurrier was the winning coach in the 2006 AutoZone Liberty Bowl as he led South Carolina to victory over Houston.
“Coach Spurrier joins a decades-long list of renowned Americans who have distinguished themselves and reached the pinnacle of their chosen field,” said Steve Ehrhart, Executive Director of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. “We are proud to include Coach Spurrier among the luminaries who have been honored by the AutoZone Liberty Bowl over our 64-year history.”
As the 7th oldest college football bowl game in America, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl was founded on the principles of freedom, patriotism and liberty.
One of the Bowl’s time honored traditions is the annual presentation of the Distinguished Citizen Award.
The award has been presented to a cross section of prominent Americans from a wide range of professions, including military commanders, governors and congressmen, as well as leaders in business, medicine, education, entertainment and sports.
Previous honorees include St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital founder Danny Thomas; U.S. Army General Kenneth Tovo; Nobel Prize recipient Dr. Peter Doherty; FedEx founder Fred Smith; AutoZone founder Pitt Hyde; U.S. Navy Admiral William Lawrence; Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson and actress/business entrepreneur Priscilla Presley. Legends from the sports world such as Paul “Bear” Bryant, Bobby Bowden, Lou Holtz, Tony Dungy, Lee Corso, Darrell Waltrip, Dick Vitale, Archie Manning, Tim McCarver and last year’s honoree Peyton Manning have also received the award.
