Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- - - On April 6th some of the world’s
super athletes that included NFL Hall of Famer
football players and an Olympic Gold Medalist
converged on the Weston Hills Country Club in
Weston, Florida for the 2009 Dwight
Stephenson Hall of Fame Golf Classic.
Their athletic efforts helped to raise close to
$100,000 for the
Dwight Stephenson Foundation.
The tournament preceded
with a VIP reception sponsored and hosted by the
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel
and Casino in
Hollywood, Florida.
The star
athletes who joined NFL Hall of Fame
football players and former Miami Dolphin Dwight
Stephenson at the two-day fundraiser included
Dick Anderson, Bob Beamon, Bennie Blades, Brian
Blades, Bob Brudzinski, Keith Byars, Jeff Dellenbach,
Autry Denson, Troy Drayton, Mark Duper, Darrell
Fullington, Reggie Givens, Hugh Green, John Hannah,
Bobby Harden, Ted Hendricks, Jim Jenson, Leroy
Kelly, Paul Krause, Bob Kuechenberg, Paul Lankford,
Larry Little, Fred Marion, Dan Marino, Curtis
McGriff, Don McNeal, Bobby Mitchell, Nat Moore,
Earl Morrall, Eugene “Mercury” Morris, Tony Nathan,
Don Nottingham, John Offerdahl, James Pruitt, Don
Shula, Charley Taylor and
Jason Taylor.
The winning
golfing team was Moss Construction which was
lead by former Miami Dolphin Dan Marino.
More than16
years ago, Dwight and his attorney wife Dinah
founded D. Stephenson Construction which is
headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
In 2007, Delray Beach residents Dwight and Dinah
Stephenson established the Dwight Stephenson
Foundation in an effort to continue and expand their
community service. The foundation has created an
opportunity to engage more professional athletes in
philanthropy to help raise money for needy children
and families. Ruth Cyrus of Fort Lauderdale
serves as the President of the Board of Trustees of
the foundation.
The mission of
the Dwight Stephenson Foundation is to leverage the
sports and business communities in an effort to
raise money to help support programs for children
and families in the areas of education, health and
human services in Palm Beach, Broward and Dade
Counties. The Dwight Stephenson Hall of Fame Golf
Classic is one of the fundraising activities of the
Foundation.
The 2009 golf
classic raised close to $100,000 and will be
supporting charities in Broward and Palm Beach Counties
that includes the American Diabetes Foundation of
Broward, the Boys & Girls Club of Broward &
Palm Beach Counties, the United Cerebral
Palsy Foundation of Broward and the Urban
League of Broward.
In 1980,
Dwight Stephenson was a second-round pick and the 48th
player selected in the 1980 NFL Draft to play
professional football for the Miami Dolphins
where he played for coach Don Shula. Stephenson
played in 107 straight games and started in 80
consecutive games until the 1987 players’ strike
ended the streak. He was also the starting center in
the 1982, 1984 and 1985 AFC championship games and
in Super Bowls XVII and XIX. In 1985, Dwight was
the recipient of the NFL’s Walter Payton’s Man of
the Year Award. Dwight’s football accomplishments
were grand and he is considered one of the best
football Centers to ever play in the NFL. His
football feats were permanently recognized when he
was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
in 1998. Dwight was also one of the first African
American’s to play Center in the NFL history. Dwight
retired from the Miami Dolphins in 1989.
For
information, please call 954-315-7020 or e-mail:
golf@dwightstephenson.org.