To The Falcon Football Pride Club and Alumni:

Thank you for your commitment to the Falcon Football Pride Club. The initial year of the Falcon Football Pride Club has been a resounding success. The FFPC will forever endure because of the dual principles of creating a special camaraderie amongst those who have been a part of Falcon Football in addition to providing a conduit to give directly back to the Air Force Football program.

In year one, Pride Club members were significant in a number of ways to include:

1) 2008 What Falcon Football Means to Me
We had nearly 70 former players return last August to speak to the 2007 team. It was a special day for everyone involved and had a tremendous impact on the young men and coaches who comprised our team.

2) Honorary Game Captains
Past Air Force football players and/or coaches served as honorary game captains for the coin toss prior to each game. Hopefully it was a neat experience for the past men who wore the bolts on their helmets, while our players and coaches were quite proud to have previous Fighting Falcons join them on the field for game day.

3) Purchase of $120,000 Recruiting Package
Allowed our football program to buy a much needed recruiting software system that immediately contributed to our initial recruiting class. In three years it will be quite evident that the young men who just graduated from high school on their way to the Academy will have a tremendous impact on Air Force football, and then ultimately, to the caliber of leadership we have in our future Air Force.

4) 2007 Falcon Football Alumni Weekend
170 former team members returned for the first annual Falcon Football Alumni Weekend as we honored Coach Jim Bowman and his remarkable 49 years of service to the Academy. The spirit spilled over onto our football team as our players captured our first home service academy win in 4 years.

5) Support of the Falcons at the 2007 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Over the past quarter century Air Force fans had purchased an average of about 2,000 bowl tickets through the Academy ticket office each time we were a participant. This number is the official count bowls take into consideration when extending future bowl invitations. Senior level Air Force active duty and retirees, the FFPC, graduates of the Air Force Academy and Falcon fans bought nearly 12,000 tickets through the Academy. Bowl executives have long had enormous respect for the class the Air Force Academy brings to postseason encounters; however, they now realize Academy followers are extremely supportive when it comes to purchasing bowl tickets. Bowl committees now look with great anticipation for what the spirited Academy backers will bring to their hotels, restaurants, stadiums and communities. 12,000 bowl tickets sold may just be the beginning.

As we begin our 2nd year of the Falcon Football Pride Club, we continue to ask for your support by renewing your membership. Our events for this fall will once again comprise "What Falcon Football Means to Me" on August 23, 2008 and the 2nd annual alumni weekend on November 7-8, 2008. This year's Falcon Football Alumni Weekend will include a special tribute to the 50th anniversary of the 1958 team that played in the Cotton Bowl and finished 9-0-2. This was an incredible group of men who were great patriots on active duty and within their respective communities.

Here are some additional initiatives the Falcon Football Pride Club will feature in year 2:

1) Falcon Football Heritage Wall
On the field level of the west side of Falcon Stadium we will begin unveiling plaques on November 8th for each class at the Academy. A 4 foot high by 3 foot wide plaque for each class will include the names of each senior member of the football team who graduated from the Academy. The Falcon Football Pride club this year will pay for the plaques for the classes of 1959-1962. If a class wants to round up $7000 by September 15, 2008 they will al so have their plaques unveiled on alumni weekend this year. It takes 6 weeks to get the plaques ordered, delivered and hung at the stadium.

2) Bowl Alley
On Parents Weekend we will unveil new signs on the East side of the stadium at field level for each of our bowl appearances.

3) Generals Wall
Place pictures between our locker room and the meeting rooms at the Falcon Athletic Center of men who were football team members their senior year at the Academy and went on to become General officers.

4) Air Force Football Library 2nd Lt Gilberto Perez has worked diligently on converting nearly 85% of all of the football games played in the history of the Air Force Academy from 1958-2000 into digital form. We are hunting for games which are missing. You can now order any of the listed games/items You can now order any of the listed games/items under the FFPC Store link above or contact Thomas Theodorakis at 719.333.7225, email at Thomas.Theodorakis@usafa.edu.

5) Season Tickets for the Troops - As a matter of support for our football program we need to increase the number of our season tickets we sell. Season Tickets for the Troops is an excellent way to help support Academy athletics while also greatly contributing to the morale of our local enlisted members and their families at Fort Carson, Peterson AFB, Schriever AFB and the Academy. Thank you again for your support of the Academy andd Air Force Football. With kickoff only 9 weeks away, hopefully we will have a chance to see many of you this fall.

Go Falcons!

Troy Calhoun
Head Coach