June 29, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today that 27-year University of Maryland announcer Johnny Holliday will receive the organization's 2006 Chris Schenkel Award.

"I am honored to be among the recipients of this very prestigious award; its namesake is one of America's truly great broadcasters," said Holliday. "To be mentioned in the same breath with some of the past recipients of this award is humbling. My tenure with the University of Maryland has been the highlight of my broadcasting career and being associated with the sports teams and the great Terrapin fans has been an honor."

The award, named for legendary college football announcer Chris Schenkel and presented since 1996, is given annually to a college football broadcaster who has had a long and distinguished career broadcasting college football. The award seeks to recognize broadcasters with direct ties to colleges and universities rather than strictly national broadcasters. Holliday will accept his award on Saturday, August 12, at the Enshrinement Dinner and Show during the College Football Hall of Fame's Enshrinement Festival in South Bend, Ind.

"Johnny's remarkable career with the Terrapins makes him the perfect recipient of this award," said NFF President Steven J. Hatchell. "His level of passion, integrity and commitment to his profession is exceptionally rare, and I'm sure Chris [Schenkel] would be very proud if he were still with us today."

Since 1979, Holliday's distinctive voice has been synonymous with Terrapin football and basketball, serving as the school's play-by-play announcer for more than 1,075 games as well as the host of the school's coaches' shows. Considered Washington, D.C.'s most versatile broadcaster, he has announced for nine bowl games, five Olympics, the Washington Redskins, and the Masters. A 25-year veteran with ABC sports, his sports reports are heard mornings coast-to-coast on the ABC Radio Network.

"For any of us who cover this game, it's a privilege to do college football," Holliday said. "When you're working with one program, you get to know the program. You have tremendous joy and pride when they go to a bowl game. And when it goes the other way, you feel the hurt that they feel. It's a job that everybody would love to have, and I feel privileged to do what I am doing and to be the voice of one institution for 27 years."

Maryland Athletics Director Deborah A. Yow commented on the award, "We were pleased to nominate Johnny for the award and delighted that he was selected. There is no better play-by-play announcer in the country, in my opinion."

A 2003 inductee into the Radio-Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Holliday penned a 2002 autobiography entitled "Johnny Holliday, from Rock to Jock," highlighting his transition from the nation's No. 1 Top 40 disc jockey in the 1960s to his current position as a renowned sports broadcaster. Holliday is also heavily involved in charity work, having raised over $1.5 million for various causes, and he has had a flourishing acting career with more than 30 leading roles in Summer Stock productions. Career highlights include playing the last record on 1010 WINS before the New York station went all news in 1965, emceeing the Beatles last concert, at Candlestick Park, in 1966 and spotting for Chris Schenkel during the Cleveland Browns - New York Giants' games in the early '60s.

Past Chris Schenkel Award winners include Chris Schenkel (ABC Sports), Jack Cristil (Mississippi State), Max Falkenstein (Kansas), Jack Fleming (West Virginia), Ray Christensen (Minnesota), Frank Fallon (Baylor), Bob Brooks (Iowa), Larry Munson (Georgia), Bob Robertson (Washington State) and Tony Roberts (Notre Dame).

Holliday will be honored during the College Football Hall of Fame's 2006 Enshrinement Festival on August 11-12. This year's Enshrinement Class includes Cornelius Bennett (Alabama), Coach Pat Dye (Auburn), Coach John Gagliardi (Saint John's, Minn.), and Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State) among others.