TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Some of college football\u2019s biggest names are headed to Tallahassee this fall \u2014 but they won\u2019t be taking the field.<\/p>\n
The Tallahassee Quarterback Club is bringing fans, former players, coaches and community members together for a season of weekly dinners featuring nationally recognized speakers and local student-athlete recognition, continuing a tradition that dates back more than 75 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been about community. Our club has been about community. We\u2019re still community today,\u201d said Hugh Tomilson, president of the Tallahassee Quarterback Club.<\/p>\n
The club traces its roots to 1949, when it was created to support local football, especially high school athletes. Its founding members also helped sell the first 10,000 seats for what is now Doak Campbell Stadium.<\/p>\n
Over the years, the organization has grown into a weekly gathering that blends football talk, community service and appearances by prominent figures in the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cNationally recognized speakers come to each meeting while we\u2019re recognizing at least four student-athletes who play the game we love here locally each and every week,\u201d Tomilson said.<\/p>\n
The club hosts eight dinners each football season at the University Center Club overlooking Doak Campbell Stadium. This year\u2019s speaker series opens with Florida State head coach Mike Norvell, followed by former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, college football analyst Danny Kanell, and national championship coaches Mack Brown and Gene Chizik.<\/p>\n
Members will also hear from Super Bowl champion Ed \u201cToo Tall\u201d Jones, veteran broadcaster Tim Brando and ACC Network analyst Eric Mac Lain.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, this one that he just put together is phenomenal. I mean, you got Too Tall Jones, you got the former Dallas Cowboy coach…\u201d said club member John Lojan.<\/p>\n
Members say the appeal goes beyond the guest list, pointing to the conversations and the experience of gathering with others who love the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s just really fun. And the experience is of a lifetime,\u201d Lojan said. \u201cYou may come one day and think, \u2018I don\u2019t want to listen to anybody talk for a couple hours.\u2019 But then you have some of the most interesting speakers that you just get so entwined in it that you want to hear them talk longer than they\u2019re allowed to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Membership is open to anyone interested in football, with access to the weekly dinners, guest speakers and special events throughout the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want you to share this club with people because it\u2019s a fantastic group. It\u2019s one of the most meaningful things in their life outside of their family, faith and football,\u201d Tomilson said.<\/p>\n
The Tallahassee Quarterback Club\u2019s first regular dinner of the season is scheduled for Aug. 25. More information on membership is available at tallahasseeqbclub.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Some of college football\u2019s biggest names are headed to Tallahassee this fall \u2014 but they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-350412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}