Nov. 24, 2008

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Head football coach Andy Talley, who has led Villanova to the playoffs for the first time in six years this season, is gaining just as significant recognition away from football as he is for the team's success on the field. Talley recently was honored with a pair of community service awards for his work on behalf of the National Marrow Donor Program.

On November 7 in Minneapolis, Minn., the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) presented Talley with its 2008 Collegiate Award at its national convention. The award is given to an individual or university in honor of outstanding commitment to raising awareness, recruiting donors and supporting the life-saving work of the NMDP. The award is presented annually nationwide.

Talley also was given the Volunteer of the Year Award by the Laurie Strauss Foundation at Carnegie Hall in New York City on November 11. The award recognizes an individual for instilling compassion in collegiate student-athletes. The award was presented during a gala benefit concert where many Broadway stars performed, headlined by Tony Danza and Maureen McGovern.

This past spring, Villanova partnered with eight other college football programs and tested 2,600 people who are now registered on the national bone marrow registry. This spring the Wildcat football team will partner with 30 college football teams with the goal of testing 5,000 people. This initiative is called "Get in the Game and Save a Life." The NMDP has joined with Villanova and over the next four years, as more college football programs get involved, the ultimate goal is to test 50,000 people a year.

Nationally, the odds are one in 20,000 of finding bone marrow donors for those with life-threatening blood diseases, such as leukemia. For members of the African-American community, the odds are even worse - one in one million.

In April, 2006, current Villanova football senior Joe Marcoux was identified as an exact match for a patient in need and underwent a procedure that December to donate blood-forming cells. Marcoux was one of more than 400 individuals who joined the national registry during a Talley-sponsored registration drive on April 22, 2006 on the Villanova campus.

Talley's involvement in this national campaign began in 1992 when he raised over $10,000 to determine the blood type of 200 individuals, with Villanova football student-athletes and his coaching staff serving as the foundation. As a result of his success, in 1993 he secured a $60,000 grant and organized the "Football United for Life" campaign, which attracted over 950 potential bone marrow donors. That group included a large number of student-athletes, primarily from the Villanova community, but also from many other Philadelphia-area college football programs.

Now in his 16th year of association with the bone marrow donor program, Talley continues his annual spring drive to get people tested and typed into the national registry. Since 1992, Talley's efforts have resulted in over 3,300 potential donors being successfully tested and entered into the registry.

"Athletes have truly been given great gifts, and this is one small way to give back to someone in great need," Talley said. "Because coaches and athletes are in the public eye, we want to raise awareness that bone marrow donors are needed. This is a great opportunity to give someone a second chance in life."

For further information on how you can be a part of the National Bone Marrow Donor Program, contact the Villanova football offices at 610-519-4105.