Ole Miss Athletics will host a lunch and ceremony for the 31st annual Chucky Mullins Courage Award presented by the M-Club, on Saturday, April 18 at The Inn at Ole Miss.
Lunch will begin at 11:30 a.m. CT in the Gertrude C. Ford Ballroom, followed by the ceremony that includes featured former winner Mike Hilton. The annual Grove Bowl will be held at 6:30 p.m. that day at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, marking the culmination of Ole Miss spring football practice.
Tickets for the award ceremony are available at olemissalumni.com/events.
Hilton, the 2015 winner of the award, was a four-year letter winner and a Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist as a senior. The Tyrone, Georgia, native recently wrapped up his third season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He finished his Rebel career with 226 career tackles, 25.5 tackles for loss and six interceptions. Following his senior season, he participated in the 2016 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. Hilton, who started every position in the defensive backfield during his Rebel career, played in 49 career games, including 40 starts.
The ceremony will include the unveiling of this year’s recipient of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award, which goes to an upperclassman defensive player at Ole Miss who will have the honor of wearing Mullins’ No. 38 on the field during the 2020 football season.
Established in the spring of 1990 by the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity at Ole Miss, the Chucky Mullins Courage Award honors the late Mullins, who had his Rebel football career come to an end during the 1989 homecoming game against Vanderbilt when he was paralyzed after making a tackle. After returning to his studies at Ole Miss, Mullins passed away on May 6, 1991.
Past recipients of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award include Chris Mitchell (1990), Jeff Carter (1991), Trea Southerland (1992), Johnny Dixon (1993), Alundis Brice (1994), Michael Lowery (1995), Derek Jones (1996), Nate Wayne (1997), Gary Thigpen (1998), Ronnie Heard (1999), Anthony Magee (2000), Kevin Thomas (2001), Lanier Goethie (2002), Jamil Northcutt (2003), Eric Oliver (2004), Kelvin Robinson (2005), Patrick Willis (2006), Jeremy Garrett (2007), Jamarca Sanford (2008), Marcus Tillman (2009), Kentrell Lockett (2010), Deterrian Shackelford (2011 and 2014), Jason Jones (2012), Mike Marry (2013), Hilton (2015), John Youngblood (2016), Marquis Haynes (2017), C.J. Moore (2018) and Austrian Robinson (2019).
HottyToddy.com staff report
