Mark Harmon To Be Recipient of NFF's Highest Honor

UCLA quarterback Mark Harmon (1972-73) will be honored on Tuesday by The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame as the 2019 recipient of the NFF Gold Medal in recognition of his exceptional accomplishments, unblemished reputation and for reflecting the values of amateur football. He will be honored for his achievements during the 62nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner to be held at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York City, which will also celebrate the 150^th anniversary of college football.

"As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of college football, Mark Harmon captures exactly what we hope to inspire in future generations of young football players, making him the perfect recipient for the NFF's highest honor," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "An NFF National Scholar-Athlete at UCLA in the early 1970s, Mark took that same relentless drive to succeed, applying it to his career as an actor and unequivocally becoming one of the most successful stars of his generation. He has earned this honor many times over, and we are extremely proud to add his name to the esteemed list of past NFF Gold Medal recipients."

The highest and most prestigious award presented by the National Football Foundation, the Gold Medal recognizes an outstanding American who has demonstrated integrity and honesty; achieved significant career success; and has reflected the basic values of those who have excelled in amateur sport, particularly football. First presented to President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in 1958, the Gold Medal boasts an impressive list of past recipients, including seven presidents, four generals, three admirals, one Supreme Court Justice, 29 corporate CEOs and chairmen, actor John Wayne and baseball immortal Jackie Robinson. Harmon will become the 65th recipient of the NFF Gold Medal.

"Having achieved the highest levels of success, Mark Harmon has always remained humble and focused on the things that really matter in life, which is hard work, perseverance and teamwork," said NFF Awards Committee Chairman Jack Ford. "His success on the gridiron as a student-athlete and his subsequent icon status in film and television make him exceptionally well-qualified as our 2019 Gold Medal recipient. We look forward to welcoming him back to the NFF's stage in December, poetically 46 years after his being honored as an NFF National Scholar-Athlete during an event when another famous actor, John Wayne, accepted the NFF Gold Medal."

Harmon was born and raised in Southern California; the son of actress Elyse Knox and Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon, a 1954 College Football Hall of Fame inductee from Michigan. He attended The Harvard School (now known as Harvard-Westlake) in Los Angeles, playing football, baseball and rugby. On the gridiron, he mostly took the field as a running back and safety, only appearing in four games at quarterback. He broke his elbow as a junior, and did not play varsity football as a senior.

Not recruited out of high school, Harmon headed to Pierce Junior College in Woodland Hills, California, and he quarterbacked the team to a 7-2 record in 1971, earning All-America laurels. His performance earned him multiple scholarship offers. Harmon opted to stay in his hometown of Los Angeles, playing for UCLA head coach Pepper Rodgers and assistant coaches Homer Smith, Lynn Stiles and Terry Donahue, also a future College Football Hall of Fame coach.

Playing alongside future College Football Hall of Fame inductees Randy Cross and John Sciarra, Harmon helped guide UCLA to a combined 17-5 record in 1972 and 1973. In his first game ever as a Bruin, which opened the 1972 season, Harmon led an underdog UCLA to a dramatic 20-17 win against two-time defending national champion Nebraska, snapping the Huskers' 32-game-unbeaten streak.

A Wishbone-T quarterback who could run, pass, fake and mix plays, Harmon rushed for more yards and touchdowns than he did passing, amassing 1,504 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns versus passing for 845 yards and 9 touchdowns during his tenure in Westwood. Utilizing offensive coordinator's Homer Smith's wishbone along with running backs Kermit Johnson and James McAlister, the Bruins created the top running game in the nation in 1973, and UCLA set school records for total yards gained (4,403), average yards per game (400.3-led the nation) and rushing touchdowns (56).

A Communications major who aspired to become a doctor, Harmon excelled in the UCLA classrooms, carrying a 3.45 GPA and graduating cum laude. His accomplishments earned him Second Team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors as well as an NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award, which led to his trip to New York City where he was honored at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner the same night that John Wayne accepted the NFF Gold Medal.

"In today's society, the scholar-athlete is indeed a rare breed," Harmon said in responding for the NFF Scholar-Athlete Class in 1973. "Not only does he excel on the field, but he competes in the classroom as well…. As we gather here tonight to pay our respects to the men who made the great American game of football what it is today, we hope that one day in the future some of us from the Class of '74 might be fortunate enough to carry on the great tradition that has been passed down by the distinguished men in this room. If we do, it is because our universities gave us the chance and the game of football has given us the principles."

After UCLA, Harmon declined professional football offers to instead pursue acting. He worked in advertising, as a shoe company rep and as a carpenter between acting gigs. His hard work eventually paid off with a big break on NBC's St. Elsewhere and the leading role of Dr. Robert Caldwell. His success continued on NBC's police drama Reasonable Doubts starring as detective Dickey Cobb and CBS's Chicago Hope where he appeared as Dr. Jack McNeil.

He also had appearances on the hit shows Moonlighting and The West Wing before landing the lead role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, on CBS' global favorite NCIS series, which has become part of television history, approaching its 400^th episode and its 17^th season.

In 2011, Harmon became an executive producer on NCIS, and in 2014 an idea he co-developed became the spinoff NCIS: New Orleans which premiered on CBS with Harmon as an executive producer alongside Gary Glasberg. His big-screen credits include Freaky Friday, Wyatt Earp, The Presidio, Summer School and Stealing Home. He has worked with Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jodie Foster, Allison Janney, Karl Malden, Patricia Arquette and Denzel Washington among countless other Hollywood notables.

Harmon has received numerous accolades and award nominations during his career, including being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Oct. 1, 2012. Harmon's charitable work includes Saving Bristol Bay, Stand Up To Cancer, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Kids Wish Network, Clothes Off Our Back, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Oklahoma Kidz Charities Foundation, Oklahoma City Indian Clinic and The Children's Center OKC.

Past Recipients of the NFF Gold Medal include:
2018 – Aaron Feis
2018 – Jason Seaman
2016 – Archie Manning
2015 – Dr. Condoleezza Rice
2014 – Dr. Tom G. Catena
2014 – George M. Weiss
2013 – Roger Goodell
2012 – Roscoe C. Brown, Jr.
2011 – Robert M. Gates
2009 – Bill Bowerman
2009 – Phil Knight
2008 – Sen. John Glenn
2007 – Gen. Pete Dawkins
2007 – Roger Staubach
2006 – Bobby Bowden
2006 – Joseph V. Paterno
2005 – Jon F. Hanson
2004 – William V. Campbell
2003 – Gen. Tommy R. Franks
2002 – George Steinbrenner III
2001 – Billy Joe "Red" McCombs
2000 – F.M. Kirby
1999 – Keith Jackson
1998 – John H. McConnell
1997 – Jackie Robinson
1996 – Eugene F. Corrigan
1995 – Harold Alfond
1994 – Thomas S. Murphy
1993 – Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf
1992 – Donald R. Keough
1991 – Pres. George H. Bush
1990 – Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
1989 – Paul Brown
1988 – Clinton E. Frank
1987 – Gen. Charles R. Meyer
1986 – William H. Morton
1985 – William I. Spencer
1984 – John F. McGillicuddy
1983 – Sen. Jack Kemp
1982 – Silver Anniversary (All Past Honorees Recognized)
1981 – Justin W. Dart
1980 – Walter J. Zable
1979 – Adm. William P. Lawrence
1978 – Vincent dePaul Draddy
1977 – Gen. Louis H. Wilson
1976 – Edgar B. Speer
1975 – David Packard
1974 – Gerald B. Zornow
1973 – John Wayne
1972 – Pres. Gerald R. Ford
1971 – Pres. Ronald W. Reagan
1970 – Adm. Thomas J. Hamilton
1969 – Pres. Richard M. Nixon
1968 – Chester J. LaRoche
1967 – Frederick L. Hovde
1966 – Earl H. "Red" Blaik
1965 – Juan T. Trippe
1964 – Donold B. Lourie
1963 – Roger M. Blough
1962 – Byron "Whizzer" White
1961 – Pres. John F. Kennedy
1960 – Pres. Herbert C. Hoover
1960 – Amos Alonzo Stagg
1959 – Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur
1958 – Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower

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