ALEC BALDWIN AB: NFL Alumni – Player of the Year Award Ceremony

If you’ve never been to a Player of the Year Award Ceremony, you don’t know what you’re missing. Me and my wife had an absolutely fantastic time at this event and all the other NFL Alumni events.
For me personally, it was a great opportunity to finally meet some of the former players that I have been communicating with for several years. Although it’s great to talk on the phone or send an email – there is no substitute for a face to face meeting with the men that shared the NFL experience.
I don’t know about other retired NFL players, but I still stand in awe of players like Ted Hendricks, L.C. Greenwood, Tom Mack, Kellen Winslow, Joe DeLamielleure, Carl Eller, Deacon Jones, Roger Wherli and all the other NFL greats that attended the Player of the Year Awards.

LC Greenwood, Joyce and Terry Hanratty

Seeing these guys and all the other players that make up our unique fraternity gave me a great sense of pride. It is a real privilege for me to call them my Alumni brothers.
Not all of us can be Hall of Fame players, but all of us can be good ambassadors for the NFL Alumni and continue to honor the “legacy” we have established. It would be nice if the NFL and the NFLPA would recognize this and create a “Legacy Fund” ….more on that later, but for now, let me get back to the Player of the Year Awards.
The Master of Ceremonies for the event was one of my favorite actors – Alec Baldwin. Alec earned universal raves for his work on the TV show 30 Rock where he captured the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a comedy television series during the program’s inaugural season.
He was joined by an All-Star cast which included Tracy Morgan, (Saturday Night Live), Vivica Fox and Regina King.

Tracy Morgan and my wife Joyce Nixon

Tracy Morgan has to be one of the funniest comedians on the planet. After the award ceremony my wife, Joyce caught up with him and before she knew what was happening he was on his knee proposing to her. I’m not exactly sure what he was proposing, but it was rather funny when he finally realized that she was my wife.
The highlight of the evening was the actual award presentations where former players gave awards to the active players.
As one of the presenters, Deacon Jones had everyone in stitches when he announced that he could not read the teleprompter and proceeded to go totally off script and give what I thought was one of the most eloquent speeches of the night. He is truly one of the great icons of the NFL.
After listening to each presenter tell us why their position is the hardest to play, Kellen Winslow did a great job of explaining why the tight end position should be considered the hardest. He also added that Tight Ends produce the most handsome players and pointed to Jason Whitten who immediately got all the local Dallas folks cheering in agreement.
Here’s the complete list of award winners.

Quarterback – Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
Running back – Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville Jaguars
Wide Receiver – Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons
Tight End – Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys
Offensive Lineman – Josh Sitton, Green Bay Packers
Defensive Lineman – Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions
Linebacker – Patrick Willis, San Francisco 49’ers
Defensive Back – Aqib Talib, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Special Teams – Devin Hester, Chicago Bears
Spirit Award – Felix Jones, Dallas Cowboys
Coach of the Year – Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs
Player of the Year – Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers

My Ten Gallon Texas hat goes off to the NFL Alumni staff and Executive Director George Martin for putting together this great event and all the other activities and events that culminated in the playing of the greatest show on earth – the Super Bowl.
P.S. Although many of us that attended the Saturday night NFL Alumni Party could only watch when the dancing started, we still know how to have a good time.
Here are some pictures from the party!