'Fight ‘em until Hell freezes over, and then fight ‘em on the ice.'

-- TCU’s Dutch Meyer

'Three things happen when you pass, and two of them are bad.'

-- Texas’ Darrell Royal

'Never been licked.'

-- Movie about Texas A&M's Corps of Cadets

'I didn’t think anything of it at first. Then I thought to myself, ‘My God, he’s coming out here to hit me.' ’

-- Rice’s Dick Maegle before Alabama’s Tommy Lewis came off the bench to tackle him in the 1954 Cotton Bowl.

'He could take his’n and beat yours’n, and then he could take yours’n and beat his’n.'

-- Former Oilers head coach Bum Phillips on Don Shula

'I've found that prayer works best when you have big players.'

-- Knute Rockne, Notre Dame

'They beat us like a tied-up goat.'

-- Texas Tech's Spike Dykes

'Always remember that Goliath was a 40-point favorite over David.'

-- Shug Jordan, Auburn

'Football is not a contact sport, it is a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport.'

-- Duffy Daugherty, Michigan State

'In Alabama, an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in Bear Bryant.'

-- Wally Butts, Georgia

'Football is only a game. Spiritual things are eternal. Nevertheless, beat Texas.'

-- church sign in Arkansas before 1969 Shootout

'Son, you've got a good engine, but your hands aren't on the steering wheel.'

-- Bobby Bowden, Florida State

'Gentlemen, it is better for you to have died a small boy than to fumble this football.'

-- Bobby Dodd, Georgia Tech

If these phrases get you thinking about great football moments you have experienced, then maybe the

Touchdown Club of Houston

is for you.

Community-Service Projects

The TD Club assists area high schools through community-service projects. The Club has awarded more than $155,000 in scholarships to almost 225 high schoolers in Greater Houston in the past 11 years, and have given out about $150,000 in weights and weight equipment to 30 Greater Houston high schools in the past eight years. The high schools receiving weights are Booker T. Washington, Forest Brook, Reagan, Smiley and Houston Sterling in 2002; Kashmere, Madison, Scarborough, Wheatley and Worthing in 2003; Milby, Northbrook and Westbury in 2004; Furr, Sharpstown and Houston Austin in 2005; Willowridge, Jones, Sam Houston, Aldine and Yates in 2006; Eisenhower, Houston Lamar, Pasadena and Scarborough (again) in 2007; in 2008, Dulles, Furr (again) South Houston and Spring Woods; and in 2009, Booker T. Washington (again), Hightower, Spring and Waltrip.

If you become a member of the TD Club, part of your dues will go to the National Football Foundation's Play It Smart program (www.playitsmart.org). Play It Smart puts academic counselors on high school campuses that are considered at-risk. Nationally, the program has allowed schools that had a graduation rate of under 33 percent jump to 95 percent. And of those 95 percent who graduated high school, about 80 percent have enrolled in college. We are taking kids off the streets and putting them in college. In 2008, Play It Smart counselors were put on all HISD campuses with athletic teams for both boys and girls athletes.

Sean's Shoes

The TD Club has teamed up with the Houston Texans' Sean Washington, the team's director of player development, to distribute excess cleats and tennis shoes to high schools in the area. The Texans players receive multiple shoes that they cannot use each season, and the TD Club funnels those shoes to needy high schools. So far, schools assisted are in HISD, Fort Bend ISD, Lamar Consolidated ISD, Anahuac, Goose Creek ISD, Bridge City, Pasadena ISD and Spring Branch schools Northbrook and Spring Woods.

The 2010 Sterling Bank Sportsmanship Awards, presented by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, was won by Seven Lakes High School (1st place), Dobie High School (2nd place) and Cinco Ranch High School (3rd place). At the luncheon where the plaques were presented are, from left, speaker Bruce Matthews, Sterling Bank VP Pamela Lovett, Dobie assistant coach Irwin Theodile, FCA representative Wade Hopkins, Cinco Ranch coach Don Clayton and Seven Lakes coach Kevin O'Keefe. Previous Sportsmanship winners are Klein (2006), Scarborough (2007), Deer Park (2008) and Atascocita (2009). The 2010 luncheon added second and third places to the Sportsmanship award.

Photo by Max Cottrell

Congrats to Seven Lakes, Dobie and Cinco Ranch for winning first, second and third places, respectively, at the 2010 Sterling Bank High School Sportsmanship Luncheon, presented by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The awards were presented on Jan. 20, 2010, at the JW Marriott.

Area high schools were rated by referee squads at football contests, based on the the way the teams/coaches act, the way the support groups/parents act, and respect for the American flag.

Keynote speaker was Bruce Matthews, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and on the local FCA's Board of Directors. Emcee was Ch. 2 sports director Randy McIlvoy.

Finalists for this year's award were ----------

CINCO RANCH, CLEAR BROOK, CLEAR CREEK, CONROE, CYPRESS SPRINGS, DOBIE, ELSIK, C.E. KING, KINGWOOD, PASADENA MEMORIAL, SEVEN LAKES, SPRING WOODS, STRAKE JESUIT and STRATFORD.

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2010 Sportsmanship semi-finalists for Greater Houston high schools for the 2009 high school football season, listed alphabetically:
Angleton; Atascocita; Channelview; Cinco Ranch; Clear Brook; Clear Creek; Clear Springs; Clements; College Park; Conroe; Cypress-Fairbanks; Cypress Springs; Cypress Woods; Davis; Dobie; Dulles; Elkins; Elsik; Humble; Jersey Village; Jones; Katy; Kempner; C.E. King; Kingwood; Klein; Klein Collins; La Porte; New Caney; Pasadena Memorial; Scarborough; Seven Lakes; Sharpstown; South Houston;
Spring; Spring Woods; Houston Sterling; Strake Jesuit; Stratford; and Westfield.

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Please watch this space for the 2010 TD Club season of events.

About The National Football Foundation: The Touchdown Club is the Houston chapter of the NFF. Founded in 1947 with leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame -- a non-profit educational organization -- runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.; the NFF Hampshire Honor Society; the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association; the NFF Gridiron Clubs of New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas; Play It Smart; and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy, presented by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings.
For more information, please visit www.footballfoundation.org.