Legends for Charity® | The Pat Summerall Award

During Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, FL in 2005 Pat Summerall was selected by Cheryl DeLeonardis, president of Ocean 2 Ocean Productions as the honoree for her inaugural event The Legends for Charity Luncheon.

The reaction and turnout were more than anyone anticipated as notable NFL broadcasters such as Troy Aikman, Greg Gumbel, Jim Nantz, Cris Collinsworth, Lesley Visser and Dick Stockton to name a few turned out to pay tribute to the man who laid the groundwork for each of their own career paths. 

Realizing the impact this giant in the broadcasting industry had on others, with the blessing of both Pat and Cheri Summerall, The Pat Summerall Award was created and a new tradition during Super Bowl would be set. The award was created to honor a national broadcaster or prominent sports personality who exemplified the characteristics Pat Summerall wanted the award to represent – an individual who has had an outstanding career and who has made a significant impact in their community. 

Commencing at Super Bowl XL in Detroit in 2006, Pat Summerall personally chose the honoree and presented the award in person annually during Super Bowl Weekend until his death in 2013.

Pat truly loved this event and loved even more that his name was somehow helping to save lives. His baritone voice and his legacy has continued to live on through this event and every child who walks through the doors at St. Jude.

About Ocean 2 Ocean Productions

Cheryl DeLeonardis is the founder and CEO of Ocean 2 Ocean Productions, in Hollywood, FL. She has created and has produced for the past 16 years one of the cornerstone events during Super Bowl Weekend, Legends for Charity® –The Pat Summerall Award.  

The late Pat Summerall agreed to let DeLeonardis, a woman and small business owner, create and produce the luncheon honoring him during Super Bowl XXXIX. Summerall was so impressed with DeLeonardis’ talent; he agreed to let her name the award in his honor, thereby creating a new tradition during Super Bowl weekend.

Since opening her business in 2004, she has become highly respected throughout the event and sports industries and has raised millions of dollars for charities with her production skills. She has created an ingenious avenue to structure an event to maximize both production and fundraising for non-profits.  She has enlisted top network sports executives to lend their name to her work with the Legends for Charity® event. The year 2006 elevated her status in the event industry when she was awarded her first two National Telly Awards.  She was also nominated as a ‘Rising Star in the Event Planning Industry’ by Event Solutions Magazine.  In 2009 she was honored with the prestigious South Florida Influential Business Woman of the Year Award. In 2011 she was awarded her first Silver Telly bringing her total to eight National Telly Awards for her video and event productions. That same year she was honored as one of the 100 Outstanding Women of Broward County, Florida and was selected as a finalist for the Prestigious WISE Woman of the Year Award in New York City.

Under her sole direction, The Legends for Charity Dinner has been elevated to a star-studded evening event held annually on the Thursday before Super Bowl Sunday. Her trusted management style has earned her the faith of the NFL who selects her event to be held annually at their Headquarters Hotel.  Her award-winning production skills have produced the tributes of today’s leading broadcasters as the recipients of the prestigious Summerall Award. On February 1, 2018 she will mark another milestone producing the dinner honoring NFL Hall of Famer Tony Dungy, the first African American Coach to lead an NFL team to a Super Bowl victory as he becomes the 13th recipient of this prestigious award.  During the historic Super Bowl 50 weekend, she produced the tribute to the legendary NFL Hall of Fame Super Bowl Winning Coach John Madden who was the longtime broadcast partner of the beloved Summerall.  Other past honorees have included James Brown, Greg Gumbel, Jim Nantz, Chris Berman, Cris Collinsworth, Al Michaels, Archie Manning, Michael Strahan, Joe Buck, Rich Eisen, Bill Cowher and Jim Kelly. In 2011 she became the first woman to honor an entire network during Super Bowl with the NFL ON FOX.   During the 2013 event in New Orleans, she successfully secured all three Manning Brothers to present the Summerall Award to their father in their hometown during Super Bowl Week.

DeLeonardis recognizes the power that sports can mean for communities. Her sincere approach has garnered some of the top on-air talent from CBS Sports, NBC Sports, FOX Sports, The NFL Network and ESPN, who agree to donate their time to participate in the Legends event.  

Websites: www.legendsforcharity.com