The Charlotte Touchdown Club is a 501(c)3 non-profit Sports-Social organization founded in 1990 for the purpose of promoting high school, collegiate, and professional football in the Charlotte, North Carolina Region. At its inception, the Touchdown Club held weekly luncheons generally attended by ten to fifteen representatives from local colleges and the media. Since that time, the Club has grown as well as diversified, boasting a Sponsor Team of over seventy companies.

The Club's activities and services focus community attention on the outstanding Citizenship, Scholarship, Sportsmanship, and Leadership of area athletes and coaches. In recognition of superior achievement on the field, in the classroom and in the community, the Club awards six annual scholarships to athletes from Catawba College, Davidson College, Gardner-Webb University, Johnson C. Smith University, and Wingate University. The Club also provides financial support to more than forty regional high school athletic programs annually. In addition, the Charlotte Touchdown Club is the proud presenter of the Roman Gabriel High School "Student Athlete of the Year" Award, the High School "Comeback Player of the Year" Award sponsored by OrthoCarolina, the Donnie Shell High School "Defensive Player of the Year" Award sponsored by Harris Teeter, and the Mike Minter Pop Warner Football Defensive Team of the Year Award. Through individual and corporate support, more than $900,000 has been raised since 1990 to finance the club's scholarship fund.

Each year, our sponsors and members look forward with anticipation to the return of the Speakers Series Luncheon Program. This popular series features speeches by Panther representatives, coaches from the college ranks as well as present and former professional greats. These six luncheons averaging more than 600 attendees, provide an excellent atmosphere for entertaining business associates, potential customers, out-of-town guests and others. The luncheons also offer great networking opportunities!

The highlight of the Club's year comes in December with the presentation of college football's most coveted defense award, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. This award, created to honor the best defensive college football player in the nation is voted on by the Football Writers Association of America. On December 7, 2008, another sell-out crowd of more than 900 people filled the Grand Ballroom at The Westin Hotel to honor the Bronko Nagurski Finalists and the 2008 recipient Brian Orakpo, of the University of Texas. The Charlotte Touchdown Club is privileged to be partnered with the Football Writers Association of America in presenting the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.

A tackle, and a fullback, a defensive end and an offensive end, linebacker and a passer, Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski's talents were legendary. He was a consensus all-American defensive tackle in 1929,and also made all-America teams that year as a fullback, the only man ever picked at two positions. Ballots were found with the 11 (one-platoon) positions listed and only 10 names, Nagurski in two of the spots.

Born in Canada, Nagurski grew up in International Falls, Minnesota, barely across the border. Legend says a Minnesota coach, Clarence "Doc" Spears, discovered him when he stopped by a farm field to ask directions from a young man plowing a field, without a horse. A combination Yogi Berra / Paul Bunyan, there were many such legends about this man who was massive for his day: 6-2, 235, size 19 neck, size 19 and a half ring finger.

Nagurski played at the University of Minnesota from 1927-1929. He then joined the NFL with the Chicago Bears. He was a charter member of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame (college) and the NFL Hall of Fame, and in college football's centennial year, 1969, he was elected to the Football Writers Association of America's all-time team. In 1995, the FWAA named their College Football Defensive Player of the Year award in his honor. Nagurski died at the age of 81 in January of 1980.

It was in 1928, a rivalry game between Minnesota and Wisconsin that Bronko Nagurski remembered as "the greatest day I had in college football." Wisconsin needed just a tie to win the Big Ten championship. Nagurski entered the game wearing a steel corset to protect a vertebra cracked four weeks earlier. Tackle Nagurski recovered a Wisconsin fumble at the Badgers 17, and fullback Nagurski carried six straight times to bang home the touchdown. Then he caught a Wisconsin receiver from behind to protect the lead. Late in the game he intercepted a desperation pass.

"He is the only player I ever saw who could have played every position" --Knute Rockne