Tom Coughlin receives Walter Camp's Distinguished American award
Former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin has accomplished a lot over the years.
Coughlin has been a part of three Giants Super Bowl teams, including two as head coach, which helped him earn his spot in the franchise's Ring of Honor. For the last 25 years, the former head coach has also done amazing work off the field with the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation.
Walter Camp recently honored Coughlin by naming him this year's recipient of their Distinguished American award.
"The Walter Camp 'Distinguished American' award is presented each year to an individual who has utilized his or her talents to attain great success in business, private life, or public service and who may have accomplished that which no other has done," the Walter Camp website states. "He or she may have a record of dedication to mankind that should not pass unrecognized and a life that has been dedicated to the preservation of the American ideal. The recipient need not have participated in football but must be one who understands its lesson of self-denial, cooperation, and teamwork, and one who is a person of honesty, integrity, and dedication. He or she must be a leader, an innovator, even a pioneer, who has reached a degree of excellence that distinguishes him or her from contemporaries, as well as someone who lives within the principles of Walter Camp."
Created in honor of Jay McGillis, a special young man who developed leukemia while a member of Coach Coughlin's team at Boston College and subsequently lost his valiant battle with the disease, the Jay Fund has grown tremendously over the years.
Since its inception, the Jay Fund has helped over 5,200 families and provided over $17 million in financial assistance to families in Northeast Florida and the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan Area.
Coughlin joins a prestigious list of previous recipients of the Distinguished American award, including George Halas (1980), Eddie Robinson (1982), Tom Landry (1986), Paul Tagliabue (1994), Steve Young (1998), Pat Summerall (2004), Joe Theismann (2013), Archie Manning (2018) and many others.
Walter Camp also named NFL Hall of Famer and former Jacksonville Jaguars tackle Tony Boselli as the recipient of the Man of the Year honor and former New England Patriot defensive back Ty Law as this year's Alumni Award recipient.
The winners will be honored, along with the members of the 2022 Walter Camp All-America Team, Player of Year Caleb Williams (USC), Coach of Year Sonny Dykes (TCU) and Connecticut Player of Year Drew Pyne (Arizona State) at the Foundation's 57th National Awards Dinner on Saturday, March 11 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
View photos of two-time Super Bowl champion head coach Tom Coughlin.
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