Alan Page
Encyclopedia
Alan Cedric Page is a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1963, received his B.A. in political science from the University of Notre Dame
in 1967, and received his J.D.
from the University of Minnesota Law School
in 1978. Page is particularly notable for the fact that he is both a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
and an Associate Justice with the Minnesota Supreme Court
. Page is married to Diane Sims Page and is the father of four children, Nina, Georgi, Justin and Kamie.
He was presented with one of the 1992 Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA)
for achieving personal distinction since his graduation. In 2005, he was awarded the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award
. In between he was inducted into College Football Hall of Fame
(1993).
In 1967, Page participated in the East-West Shrine Game
and 25 years later received the "Babe Hollingbery" Award for his outstanding and lasting performance as he was inducted to that game's Hall of Fame. Named to the Academic All-American Hall of Fame in 2001 and as such received the Dick Enberg
Award. Also a winner of the Walter Camp Alumni of the Year
in 1988. In 2002, he was inducted into International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame. He was the 2004 winner of the Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA)
, which is awarded to graduates from an NCAA institution who earned a varsity letter for athletics and who ultimately became a distinguished citizen of national reputation.
A bronze of Page is on the just-completed Pro Football Hall of Fame themed gate within Notre Dame Stadium (Gate C).
Following his graduation from Notre Dame, Page was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings
, for whom he played from 1967 until 1978. In 1978, Page joined the Chicago Bears
, with whom he played through the 1981 season and where he amassed 40 of his career sacks.
As a right defensive tackle, he had an unusual 3-point stance in placing down his left rather than his right hand on the ground. During Page’s 15-year NFL-tenure, the Vikings won an impressive four conference titles. Page was a member of the Vikings famous "Purple People Eaters
", a defensive line adept at sacking or hurrying the quarterback. Page played in 218 consecutive games without an absence (215 consecutive in the starting line-up), during which he recovered 22 fumbles, made 148½ sacks (Vikings-108½, Bears-40), and scored three touchdowns (two on fumble recoveries and one on an interception return). He also had three safeties, the second most in NFL history. He set a career-high in sacks with 18 in 1976 and is unofficially credited with 5 other seasons with 10 sacks or more.
While in the NFL, Page earned All-Pro
honors six times and made second-team all-league three additional times. He was voted to nine consecutive Pro Bowls. Eleven times he was voted All-Conference, in 1968 and 1969 as All-Western Conference and 1970 through 77 and 1980 as an All-National Football Conference.
In 1971, Page was named both the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (the first player to be named such) and the AP’s NFL Most Valuable Player. Page was the first defensive player to be named MVP since the award’s inception. In addition, he was voted the NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year
in 1973.
. In 1999, he was ranked number 34 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking Viking player. He received the NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award in 1995 for attaining success in his post-NFL career.
, from which he received his Juris Doctor in 1978. Following graduation, he worked with the law firm of Lindquist and Vennum in Minneapolis from 1979 to 1984 outside the football season. In 1985, Page was appointed Special Assistant Attorney General, and was soon thereafter promoted to Assistant Attorney General.
In 1992, Page was elected to an open seat as an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, becoming the first African-American to ever serve on that court. He was re-elected in 1998, becoming the biggest vote-getter in Minnesota history, and was again re-elected in 2004. Page was re-elected again in 2010, to what will necessarily be his last term, as Minnesota has mandatory retirement for judges at age 70.
On January 7, 2009, Page was appointed by Chief Justice Eric Magnuson to select the three-judge panel which heard the election contest brought by Norm Coleman
. Coleman contested the U.S. Senate election
certified on the previous day.
Since 1996, Justice Page has volunteered to be a "reading buddy" in the Everybody Wins reading program at a local elementary school.
Justice Page’s contributions to the community have not gone unnoticed, and he has been the recipient of a number of awards recognizing the impact he has made on the lives of children throughout the nation. He has also received Honorary Doctorates in Humane Letters from the University of Notre Dame, Winston-Salem State University, and Gustavus Adolphus College, as well as Honorary Doctorates of Laws from the University of Notre Dame, St. John’s University, Westfield State College, Luther College, and the University of New Haven.
On a more personal note, Justice Page has a passion for running and runs on a regular basis. Notably, in 1979, Page became the first active NFL player to complete a marathon. His running routine, which he took up while helping his wife quit smoking, is believed to have contributed to his dismissal from the Minnesota Vikings
. His running schedule of 35–40 miles per week during the season, and 55 miles per week in the offseason, caused his weight to drop below that dictated by the Vikings. He ran the Ultimate Runner (mile, 10K, 100, 400, 800, marathon all in one day). In 1987, he completed the Edmund Fitzgerald 100k Road Race in Duluth, Minnesota. Page is a regular spectator at the Twin Cities Marathon
, famous for playing the sousaphone near mile 3.
In 2010, Bill McGrane wrote a biography about Justice Page entitled All Rise, The Remarkable Journey of Alan Page.
Winston-Salem State University
, 2000;
Gustavus Adolphus College
, 2003;
University of Notre Dame
, 2004;
Duke University
, 2011.
Honorary Doctorate of Laws:
University of Notre Dame, 1993;
St. John's University, 1994;
Westfield State College
, 1994;
Luther College
, 1995;
University of New Haven
, 1999.
2011—James V. Day "Good Guy" Award, The American Legion
2011—Legacy Award, The Pan African Community Endowment
2010—#43 in the NFL's Top 100 Greatest Players
2010—Player of the Franchise, Minnesota Vikings, St. Paul Pioneer Press
2009—Reatha Clark King Award for Excellence and Youth Motivation through the Cultural Arts
2007—The Bronko Nagurski Legends Award by Charlotte Touchdown Club
2007—Council on Crime and Justice "Equal Justice Award"
2007—University of Minnesota African American "Read-In Program Award"
2007—Included in Minnesota’s Legal Hall of Fame, Minnesota Law & Politics
2007—Trumpet Awards Foundation Honoree http://www.trumpetfoundation.org/2007/bio_justice_page.htm
2006—Receive the St. Paul Urban League "Willie Mae Wilson Lifetime Achievement Award"
2006—Minnesota MILE (Motivating & Inspiring Leadership and Excellence) "Extra Mile Award"
2005—National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award
2004—Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA)
2003—Scholarship America President’s Award
2002—Inducted into International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame
2001—Minnesota Business Partnership “Connecting With Youth Lifetime Achievement Award”
2001—Academic All-American Hall of Fame, 2001 Dick Enberg Award
2001—University of Minnesota Distinguished Alumni Award
1999—Sports Illustrated
's "The 50 Greatest Sports Figures from Ohio"
1999—Star Tribune's "100 Influential Minnesotans of the Century"
1999—Star Tribune's "100 Most Important Sports Figures of the Century"
1995—NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award.
1994—Aetna
Voice of Conscience Arthur Ashe
Jr. Achiever Award
1993—WCCO Radio Distinguished Good Neighbor Award
1993—Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame
1993—East-West Game “Babe Hollingbery” Award
1992—Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA)
1992—U.S. Sports Academy Theodore Roosevelt Meritorious Service Award
1992—Notre Dame Alumni "Reverend Edward Frederick Sorin, C.S.C." Award
1991—Inducted into Chicago's Inner City Sports Hall of Fame
1991—National Education Association
"Friend of Education" Award
1990—Inducted into the Nike
Walk of Fame
1989—Dedicated “Alan Page Drive” in Canton, Ohio
1988—Walter Camp Alumni of the Year
Award
1988—Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
, Canton, Ohio
1981—Selected by U.S. Jaycees as one of America's Ten Outstanding Young Men.
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1963, received his B.A. in political science from the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
in 1967, and received his J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from the University of Minnesota Law School
University of Minnesota Law School
The University of Minnesota Law School, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, is a professional school of the University of Minnesota. The school offers a Juris Doctor , Masters of Law for Foreign Lawyers, and joint degrees with J.D./M.B.A., J.D./M.P.A, J.D./M.A., J.D./M.S., J.D./Ph.D.,...
in 1978. Page is particularly notable for the fact that he is both a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
and an Associate Justice with the Minnesota Supreme Court
Minnesota Supreme Court
The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota and consists of seven members. The court was first assembled as a three-judge panel in 1849 when Minnesota was still a territory. The first members were lawyers from outside of the region who were appointed by...
. Page is married to Diane Sims Page and is the father of four children, Nina, Georgi, Justin and Kamie.
High school
Page attended and graduated from Central Catholic High School, Canton, OH, 1964. He starred in several sports and excelled in football.College
Following high school, Page attended the University of Notre Dame, where he led the school’s storied football program to a national championship in 1966. That same year, Page was named a college football All-American for his achievements on the field.He was presented with one of the 1992 Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA)
Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA)
The Silver Anniversary Awards are given each year by the American National Collegiate Athletic Association to recognize six distinguished former student-athletes on their 25th anniversary as college graduates. The Silver Anniversary Awards were first given in 1973, when five distinguished former...
for achieving personal distinction since his graduation. In 2005, he was awarded the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award
National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award
The National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award is among the highest offered by the National Football Foundation . Every year, the NFF & College Football Hall of Fame pays tribute to a select few with awards of excellence for exhibiting superior qualities of scholarship, citizenship...
. In between he was inducted into College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
(1993).
In 1967, Page participated in the East-West Shrine Game
East-West Shrine Game
The East–West Shrine Game is an annual post-season college football all-star game played each January since 1925. The game is sponsored by the fraternal group Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and the net proceeds are earmarked to some of the Shrine's charitable works, most notably the Shriners...
and 25 years later received the "Babe Hollingbery" Award for his outstanding and lasting performance as he was inducted to that game's Hall of Fame. Named to the Academic All-American Hall of Fame in 2001 and as such received the Dick Enberg
Dick Enberg
Richard Alan "Dick" Enberg is an American sportscaster. He currently provides play-by-play for telecasts of San Diego Padres baseball on 4SD, following a long career calling various sports for such networks as NBC, CBS, and ESPN...
Award. Also a winner of the Walter Camp Alumni of the Year
Walter Camp Alumni of the Year
The Walter Camp “Alumni of the Year” award is bestowed by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on a worthy individual who has distinguished himself in the pursuit of excellence as an athlete, in his personal career and in doing good works for others. He must be an individual who has exhibited...
in 1988. In 2002, he was inducted into International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame. He was the 2004 winner of the Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA)
Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA)
The Theodore Roosevelt Award is the highest honor the National Collegiate Athletic Association may confer on an individual. The award is awarded annually to a graduate from an NCAA member institution who earned a varsity letter in college for participation in intercollegiate athletics, and who...
, which is awarded to graduates from an NCAA institution who earned a varsity letter for athletics and who ultimately became a distinguished citizen of national reputation.
A bronze of Page is on the just-completed Pro Football Hall of Fame themed gate within Notre Dame Stadium (Gate C).
NFL player
"The lessons that I learned from professional football were many: hard work, discipline, focus, the ability to analyze a problem and work through it. To accept that you don't always win and when you do win that doesn't change who you are." Alan C. Page, 2005Following his graduation from Notre Dame, Page was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
, for whom he played from 1967 until 1978. In 1978, Page joined the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, with whom he played through the 1981 season and where he amassed 40 of his career sacks.
As a right defensive tackle, he had an unusual 3-point stance in placing down his left rather than his right hand on the ground. During Page’s 15-year NFL-tenure, the Vikings won an impressive four conference titles. Page was a member of the Vikings famous "Purple People Eaters
Purple People Eaters
Purple People Eaters is a term for the defensive line of the Minnesota Vikings from the late 1960s to the late 1970s. The term is a reference to a popular song from 1958, the superb efficiency of the defense, and the color of their uniforms...
", a defensive line adept at sacking or hurrying the quarterback. Page played in 218 consecutive games without an absence (215 consecutive in the starting line-up), during which he recovered 22 fumbles, made 148½ sacks (Vikings-108½, Bears-40), and scored three touchdowns (two on fumble recoveries and one on an interception return). He also had three safeties, the second most in NFL history. He set a career-high in sacks with 18 in 1976 and is unofficially credited with 5 other seasons with 10 sacks or more.
While in the NFL, Page earned All-Pro
All-Pro
All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...
honors six times and made second-team all-league three additional times. He was voted to nine consecutive Pro Bowls. Eleven times he was voted All-Conference, in 1968 and 1969 as All-Western Conference and 1970 through 77 and 1980 as an All-National Football Conference.
In 1971, Page was named both the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (the first player to be named such) and the AP’s NFL Most Valuable Player. Page was the first defensive player to be named MVP since the award’s inception. In addition, he was voted the NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year
Newspaper Enterprise Association Defensive Player of the Year Award
Beginning in 1966 the Newspaper Enterprise Association annually awarded the George S. Halas Trophy to the NFL's outstanding defensive player. Beginning in 1966 the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) annually awarded the George S. Halas Trophy to the NFL's outstanding defensive player....
in 1973.
NFL player representative
Page was National Football League Players Association player representative, 1970–1974, 1976–1977, and a member of the NFLPA Association Executive Committee, 1972-1975. Named to the Vikings' 40th Anniversary Team in 2000. Along the way, Page was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Week three times: Week 9, 1967; Week 8, 1968; Week 13, 1971. In 1988, Page was further honored by his induction into the Pro Football Hall of FamePro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
. In 1999, he was ranked number 34 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking Viking player. He received the NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award in 1995 for attaining success in his post-NFL career.
Broadcasting
After his playing career he dabbled in the media, first as a color commentator on Turner Broadcasting System covering the College Football Game of the Week series during the Fall of 1982 and then as a commentator on National Public Radio from 1982-83.Legal career
Long before Page’s football career came to a close, he was laying the groundwork for his future role as a justice with the Minnesota Supreme Court. While still playing for the Vikings, Page attended the University of Minnesota Law SchoolUniversity of Minnesota Law School
The University of Minnesota Law School, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, is a professional school of the University of Minnesota. The school offers a Juris Doctor , Masters of Law for Foreign Lawyers, and joint degrees with J.D./M.B.A., J.D./M.P.A, J.D./M.A., J.D./M.S., J.D./Ph.D.,...
, from which he received his Juris Doctor in 1978. Following graduation, he worked with the law firm of Lindquist and Vennum in Minneapolis from 1979 to 1984 outside the football season. In 1985, Page was appointed Special Assistant Attorney General, and was soon thereafter promoted to Assistant Attorney General.
In 1992, Page was elected to an open seat as an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, becoming the first African-American to ever serve on that court. He was re-elected in 1998, becoming the biggest vote-getter in Minnesota history, and was again re-elected in 2004. Page was re-elected again in 2010, to what will necessarily be his last term, as Minnesota has mandatory retirement for judges at age 70.
On January 7, 2009, Page was appointed by Chief Justice Eric Magnuson to select the three-judge panel which heard the election contest brought by Norm Coleman
Norm Coleman
Norman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...
. Coleman contested the U.S. Senate election
United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2008
The 2008 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 4, 2008. After a legal battle lasting over eight months, Al Franken from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party defeated Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in one of the closest elections in the history of the Senate...
certified on the previous day.
Community
In 1988, Page and his wife Diane founded the Page Education Foundation. That Foundation provides much-needed financial and mentoring assistance to students of color, in exchange for those students’ commitment to further volunteer service in the community. As of June 2010, the Page Foundation has awarded grants to 4,500 students, who in turn have given over 300,000 hours of their own time to young children. Upon his retirement from the bench, Justice Page hopes to become a public school teacher, so that he might make an even more personal impact on the children the Foundation has served.Since 1996, Justice Page has volunteered to be a "reading buddy" in the Everybody Wins reading program at a local elementary school.
Justice Page’s contributions to the community have not gone unnoticed, and he has been the recipient of a number of awards recognizing the impact he has made on the lives of children throughout the nation. He has also received Honorary Doctorates in Humane Letters from the University of Notre Dame, Winston-Salem State University, and Gustavus Adolphus College, as well as Honorary Doctorates of Laws from the University of Notre Dame, St. John’s University, Westfield State College, Luther College, and the University of New Haven.
On a more personal note, Justice Page has a passion for running and runs on a regular basis. Notably, in 1979, Page became the first active NFL player to complete a marathon. His running routine, which he took up while helping his wife quit smoking, is believed to have contributed to his dismissal from the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
. His running schedule of 35–40 miles per week during the season, and 55 miles per week in the offseason, caused his weight to drop below that dictated by the Vikings. He ran the Ultimate Runner (mile, 10K, 100, 400, 800, marathon all in one day). In 1987, he completed the Edmund Fitzgerald 100k Road Race in Duluth, Minnesota. Page is a regular spectator at the Twin Cities Marathon
Twin Cities Marathon
The Twin Cities Marathon is an annual marathon in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. The race is often dubbed "The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America." The TCM was first run in 1982, and typically takes place during the first weekend in October. In 2006 the Marathon agreed to its first...
, famous for playing the sousaphone near mile 3.
In 2010, Bill McGrane wrote a biography about Justice Page entitled All Rise, The Remarkable Journey of Alan Page.
Hobbies
Page also owns an extensive collection of Jim Crow-related memorabilia, which was described in detail in a Minneapolis Star Tribune article.Honorary degrees
Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters:Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State University , a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, is a historically black public research university located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.Winston-Salem State has been...
, 2000;
Gustavus Adolphus College
Gustavus Adolphus College
Gustavus Adolphus College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. A coeducational, four-year, residential institution, it was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans. To this day the school is firmly...
, 2003;
University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, 2004;
Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, 2011.
Honorary Doctorate of Laws:
University of Notre Dame, 1993;
St. John's University, 1994;
Westfield State College
Westfield State College
Westfield State University is a comprehensive, coeducational, four-year public university in Westfield, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1838 by noted educator and social reformer Horace Mann as the first public co-educational college in America without barrier to race, gender and economic class...
, 1994;
Luther College
Luther College (Iowa)
Luther College is a four-year, residential liberal arts institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in Decorah, Iowa, USA...
, 1995;
University of New Haven
University of New Haven
The University of New Haven is a private university that combines a liberal arts education with professional training. The university comprises five colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business, the Tagliatela College of Engineering, the Henry C...
, 1999.
Post NFL awards
2011—Making a Difference by Breaking Barriers Award, General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division, American Bar Association2011—James V. Day "Good Guy" Award, The American Legion
2011—Legacy Award, The Pan African Community Endowment
2010—#43 in the NFL's Top 100 Greatest Players
2010—Player of the Franchise, Minnesota Vikings, St. Paul Pioneer Press
2009—Reatha Clark King Award for Excellence and Youth Motivation through the Cultural Arts
2007—The Bronko Nagurski Legends Award by Charlotte Touchdown Club
2007—Council on Crime and Justice "Equal Justice Award"
2007—University of Minnesota African American "Read-In Program Award"
2007—Included in Minnesota’s Legal Hall of Fame, Minnesota Law & Politics
2007—Trumpet Awards Foundation Honoree http://www.trumpetfoundation.org/2007/bio_justice_page.htm
2006—Receive the St. Paul Urban League "Willie Mae Wilson Lifetime Achievement Award"
2006—Minnesota MILE (Motivating & Inspiring Leadership and Excellence) "Extra Mile Award"
2005—National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award
National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award
The National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award is among the highest offered by the National Football Foundation . Every year, the NFF & College Football Hall of Fame pays tribute to a select few with awards of excellence for exhibiting superior qualities of scholarship, citizenship...
2004—Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA)
Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA)
The Theodore Roosevelt Award is the highest honor the National Collegiate Athletic Association may confer on an individual. The award is awarded annually to a graduate from an NCAA member institution who earned a varsity letter in college for participation in intercollegiate athletics, and who...
2003—Scholarship America President’s Award
2002—Inducted into International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame
2001—Minnesota Business Partnership “Connecting With Youth Lifetime Achievement Award”
2001—Academic All-American Hall of Fame, 2001 Dick Enberg Award
2001—University of Minnesota Distinguished Alumni Award
1999—Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
's "The 50 Greatest Sports Figures from Ohio"
1999—Star Tribune's "100 Influential Minnesotans of the Century"
1999—Star Tribune's "100 Most Important Sports Figures of the Century"
1995—NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award.
1994—Aetna
Aetna
Aetna, Inc. is an American health insurance company, providing a range of traditional and consumer directed health care insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, group life, long-term care, and disability plans, and medical management...
Voice of Conscience Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...
Jr. Achiever Award
1993—WCCO Radio Distinguished Good Neighbor Award
1993—Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
1993—East-West Game “Babe Hollingbery” Award
1992—Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA)
Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA)
The Silver Anniversary Awards are given each year by the American National Collegiate Athletic Association to recognize six distinguished former student-athletes on their 25th anniversary as college graduates. The Silver Anniversary Awards were first given in 1973, when five distinguished former...
1992—U.S. Sports Academy Theodore Roosevelt Meritorious Service Award
1992—Notre Dame Alumni "Reverend Edward Frederick Sorin, C.S.C." Award
1991—Inducted into Chicago's Inner City Sports Hall of Fame
1991—National Education Association
National Education Association
The National Education Association is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become...
"Friend of Education" Award
1990—Inducted into the Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
Walk of Fame
1989—Dedicated “Alan Page Drive” in Canton, Ohio
1988—Walter Camp Alumni of the Year
Walter Camp Alumni of the Year
The Walter Camp “Alumni of the Year” award is bestowed by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on a worthy individual who has distinguished himself in the pursuit of excellence as an athlete, in his personal career and in doing good works for others. He must be an individual who has exhibited...
Award
1988—Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
, Canton, Ohio
1981—Selected by U.S. Jaycees as one of America's Ten Outstanding Young Men.
Professional organizations
- Member, American Law InstituteAmerican Law InstituteThe American Law Institute was established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of American common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. The ALI drafts, approves, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, model codes, and other proposals for law...
, 1993–present - Member, Minnesota State Bar Association, 1979–1985, 1990–present
- Member, Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers, 1980–present
- Member, National Bar AssociationNational Bar AssociationThe National Bar Association was established in 1925 as the "Negro Bar Association" after Gertrude Rush, George H. Woodson, S. Joe Brown, James B. Morris, and Charles P. Howard, Sr. were denied membership in the American Bar Association. It represents the interests of African-American attorneys in...
, 1979–present - Member, American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar AssociationThe American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
, 1979–present - Member, Advisory Board, Mixed Blood Theater, 1984–present
- Founder, Page Education Foundation, 1988. Assists minority youth with post-secondary education.
- Member, Board of Regents, University of MinnesotaUniversity of MinnesotaThe University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, 1989–1993 - Helped establish Kodak/Alan Page Challenge, a nationwide essay contest encouraging urban youth to recognize the value of education.
- Member, Institute of Bill of Rights Law Task Force on Drug Testing in the Workplace, 1990–1991
- Board of Directors, Minneapolis Urban League, 1987–1990