Oakley, Calif. - Former Seattle Seahawks guard FRANK BEEDE, a teacher at Freedom High School in Oakley, CA, has been named the 2010 NFL TEACHER OF THE YEAR, it was announced today. Under a revised format adopted this year, the award recognizes a former NFL player who is now working professionally as a teacher.
As the NFL Teacher of the Year, Beede will receive a $5,000 award, and a $5,000 grant will be presented to Freedom High School from the NFL.
Beginning in 1990, the NFL Teacher of the Year Award provided an opportunity for players to honor teachers who had the greatest impact on their educational and life-skills development. The program now invites school administrators to nominate former NFL players who entered the field of education after retiring from football.
A panel of educators and civic leaders selected Beede from a pool of former NFL player nominations. With assistance from the NFL Alumni Association, the entries were narrowed to 10 finalists. The voting panel consists of Commissioner ROGER GOODELL; Georgetown University Board of Trustees Chairman, former Commissioner PAUL TAGLIABUE; Congressman GARY ACKERMAN; Congressman MICHAEL HONDA; ANTONIA CORTESE, American Federation of Teachers; and AARON CRAVER and RANDALL MCDANIEL, former NFL players and current teachers.
"We are proud of the NFL alumni who are shaping future generations by working in education," said Commissioner Goodell."Their time on the football field taught them the values of integrity, preparation and persistence, lessons that carry over into the classroom. We honor these former NFL players for their dedication to the work of teaching."
Beede, a history teacher, was nominated by Freedom High School Principal Erik Faulkner. In his nomination essay, Faulkner wrote, "Frank is a very modest individual. He does not brag that he was in the NFL...However, when Frank does talk about his experience in the NFL, he speaks with a very appreciative tone that he was fortunate enough to have played football for that long and at that level. I have heard him talk about the fact that he never considered himself a gifted athlete, but that it was his work ethic and attitude that carried him to that level. He relates this learning experience to his students to let them know 'it is not about the skill, but it's about the will.' Students love to learn about his stories as an NFL player going up against future Hall of Famers and how sometimes they got the better of him, but that he never gave up and sometimes he came out victorious."
Representatives from the Seattle Seahawks surprised Beede today during a school assembly and presented the school with a check from NFL Charities.
A resident of Oakley and former teacher in the Antioch Unified School District, Beede, a graduate of Oklahoma Panhandle State, retired from the NFL in 2000, after playing for the Seahawks for five seasons. He attended Oklahoma Panhandle State and was signed by the Seahawks in 1996 as a free agent. He has been teaching at Freedom High School since 2008.
