Amity Football Player To Be Honored As Scholar Athlete

NEW HAVEN, CT — Twenty-eight high school and prep school scholar athletes who played football last fall will be honored by the National Football Foundation for academic excellence, leadership and citizenship. The annual Casey-O'Brien New Haven County Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete awards dinner has been canceled over concerns of the new coronavirus.

Bill O'Brien president of the New Haven Chapter said, "We are pleased to be honoring another group of outstanding young men for their accomplishments in the classroom, their school and in their community.” Since 1962 the chapter has honored 1,257 young men.

In addition, two longtime coaches with ties to the area will receive Distinguished American awards. George DeLeone and Chris Palmer have a combined 100 years of coaching in the college and professional (NFL) ranks. In addition to college, DeLeone coached at San Diego, Miami and Cleveland in the NFL. Palmer coached at UConn, New Haven among others as well as in the NFL at New England, Cleveland, Dallas, and the Giants, 49er's in the NFL. He recently retired as the Athletic Director at the University of New Haven.

The Chapter Award of Merit this year will be presented to Abbott Burrell and Scott Burrell from Hamden.

“The Burrells are members of one of the most successful athletic families in state history,” O'Brien said.

Abbott played at Hamden ('86) and at UConn from 1986 to 1989 and has been a college football coach for the past 27 years, most recently at Central Connecticut State University. Scott Burrell was one of the finest high school football players in Connecticut at Hamden before embarking on both basketball and baseball careers. He is now the head basketball coach at Southern Connecticut State University. Both graduated from UConn.

Other award winners include Judge Arthur Hadden, a 30 year football official, who has officiated six state championship games and Cheshire High School coach Don Drust who will receive the Chapter Coach of the Year Award for improving the Rams’ regular-season record of 3-7 in 2018 to 8-2 and qualifying for the Class LL state playoffs this past season. The Sheehan Titans will receive a plaque for winning the Class S championship.