Honorary Chair

Heisman Trophy winner Pete Dawkins, an All-American halfback on the 1958 West Point football team, has been named Honorary Chair of the 2009 Adirondack Trust Allegiance Bowl, an annual charity event featuring teams from the Collegiate Sprint Football League. Proceeds from the October 17, 2009 bowl game between Army and Mansfield University will benefit participants of the Saratoga Youth Hockey and Saratoga Springs Figure Skating programs.

Brigadier General (Ret.) Dawkins has lived a life of extraordinary accomplishment and service. At West Point, he was president of his class, captain of the football team, and an All-East hockey player while also serving as Brigade Commander of the Corps of Cadets. He is a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam conflict, having received the Bronze Star for Valor and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. A former instructor at the United States Military Academy, General Dawkins is a Rhodes Scholar and also holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University. In 1998, he led a panel of business leaders to improve the efficiency of the defense industry, receiving the Eisenhower Award for Leadership in United States National Security.

“I am a fan of sprint football, having followed Army teams for decades,” General Dawkins said. “I have known many sprint players over the years and have an enormous respect for their enthusiasm, athleticism, and spirit. I am therefore pleased to have been asked to serve as Honorary Chair of this year’s Allegiance Bowl and look forward to an exciting event.”

The Allegiance Bowl committee extends its profound gratitude to General Dawkins for his willingness to assist the organizing committee with the “Saratoga Sprint Football Classic.”