The Frank Deford Award

Frank Deford, 2004

Presented annually to the top student Sports Information Assistant at Williams College since 1990. The Deford Award is believed to be the only one of its kind in the nation.

Frank Deford was named the best living sportswriter in the nation by GQ magazine in 1989. For many years Deford was the top writer at Sports Illustrated and later served as the Editor of 'The National' -- the first national sports daily in America. Deford has penned more than a dozen books and at least two have become movies -- Alex: The Life of a Child and Everybody's All-American.

Deford has since returned to Sports Illustrated as a writer and serves as a commentator on National Public Radio.

Deford is a Princeton graduate, but his love of the color purple and his involvement with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation were contributing reasons for the award being created in his name. Shortly after arriving at Williams in the fall of 1989 Sports Information Director Dick Quinn wanted to create a way to recognize the outstanding contributions of the student sports information assistants.

Quinn remembered an article by Deford years ago in Sports Illustrated bemoaning the fact that his favorite color purple seemed to be worn by teams that could never win the big game. Deford lamented that his favorite color could never grab the golden ring -- the Vikings in the Super Bowl and the Lakers in the NBA Finals (before Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar).

Quinn and Deford also shared a life experience that made them kindred spirits. Both Quinn and Deford have lost a daughter to Cystic Fibrosis.

Quinn contacted Deford and convinced him to allow the Ephs to name the award recognizing the top Eph student sports information assistant in his honor. Quinn assured Deford that the award would be worthy of his good name due to the outstanding talents of the student Sports Information assistants on his staff and the overall quality of the Eph teams.

Deford came to campus to present the first award and a long list of nationally recognized figures in the sports field have followed.

The Deford Award is presented in either late April or early May on campus in an event open to the college and local community.

Frank Deford established the following traditions in his May 1990 visit:

+ The evening begins with dinner in a dining hall with selected student sports information assistants. This came about as a way to give Frank Deford a different kind of dining experience.

+ Award ceremony must begin at 7:00 PM and end at 8:00 PM and it must be free. This was enforced to enable Deford to drive up and back from his Connecticut home on the day of the event.

+ Presenter receives no appearance fee but does get expenses. Deford wanted to keep this award 'accessible' to future students.

+ Format: Introduction by Sports Information Director, presentation of the Deford Award and then the presenter talks on a topic of his/her choice for about 20 minutes before taking questions from the audience.

Deford Award Winners & Presenters