Former BYU football Heisman-winning quarterback and current offensive coordinator Ty Detmer was one of six former collegiate athletes to receive the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.
The Silver Anniversary Award annually recognizes distinguished individuals on the 25th anniversary of the end of their college careers.
The other 2017 Silver Anniversary Award recipients were Alonzo Mourning (Georgetown basketball), Susan Robinson Fruchtl (Penn State women’s basketball), Heather Taggart (Wisconsin women’s soccer), Tommy Vardell (Stanford football) and Troy Vincent (Wisconsin football).
Detmer led BYU football to a 37-10-2 record from 1988-1991, capturing the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award once each, while being a two-time All-American and two-time Davey O’Brien Award winner. He threw for 15,031 yards and 121 touchdowns while in Provo.
Detmer graduated from BYU in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in recreation management and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 1992 NFL Draft.
He spent 14 seasons in the NFL, throwing 34 touchdown passes for six different teams.
Detmer retired from the NFL in 2005 and returned to his native Texas as a high school football coach. In Dec. 2015, Detmer joined Kalani Sitake’s staff as offensive coordinator and helped lead the Cougars to a 9-4 record and Poinsettia Bowl victory.
A member of the College Football Hall of Fame class of 2002, Detmer also works with the Children’s Miracle Network to raise funds for children’s hospitals.
Detmer is one of six former Cougars receive the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. Larry Echohawk received it in 1995, Gifford Nielsen in 2003, Danny Ainge in 2006, Steve Young in 2009 and Dylann Duncan Certain in 2012.
