FEBRUARY 1, 2023 | PHOENIX, AZ — The Fritz Pollard Alliance announces the honorees of the 18th Annual Johnnie L. Cochran Salute to Excellence Awards, held on Thursday, February 9, 2023 at the Courtyard Marriott Phoenix,132 S. Central Avenue at 12noon. This year's theme, Black Resistance: Building Bridges, Navigating Barriers, is a reminder that our work is unfinished. Sports luminaries will receive six prestigious awards including Leslie Frazier, assistant head coach and defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills and Perry Fewell, Senior Vice President of NFL Officiating Administration, will receive the Salute to Excellence Award in recognition of exceptional performances of an individual in sports. The recipient of the John B. Wooten Award is the San Francisco 49ers for taking extraordinary steps to advance diversity, equity and inclusion. This year's Paul J. Tagliabue Award goes to the Women's National Basketball Association for raising the diversity benchmark, in the sports industry. The collegiate Award goes to Deslin Alexandra, a student-athlete whose performance on and off the field exudes the spirit of Fritz Pollard.
The highest award by the FPA is the Daniel M. Rooney Lifetime Achievement Award, which is awarded to Kevin Demoff, Chief Operating Officer of the Los Angeles Rams for his dedication and long-term meritorious history to improve the workplace surrounding the game of football.
"We are fortunate to have the platform that the National Football League provides to lead and push for a more diverse and inclusive landscape within sports and beyond," said Demoff. "It is a tremendous honor to receive the Dan Rooney Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fritz Pollard Alliance and to be associated with two legends who helped transform the NFL in Dan Rooney and Fritz Pollard. This is a crucial time to advocate for more access to opportunity and equity in our game and I am grateful to the Fritz Pollard Alliance for their commitment to and leadership in this work."
Rod Graves, Executive Director of Fritz Pollard Alliance recently posited, "Our mantra is to resist the status quo of diversity hiring practices in the NFL, as we build bridges and navigate barriers. Although the doors are open to ownership conversations, in many cases, the results remain barren of inclusive successes."
