The Ken Kunken Most Valuable Player Award
Saratoga Sprint Football Classic, 2008 Program

At the conclusion of today’s Collegiate Sprint Football League contest, The Allegiance Bowl Committee, Inc. will present the Most Valuable Player Award in honor of Ken Kunken, a Cornell University sprint football player who sustained a paralyzing injury in 1970 while defending a kick off against Columbia. In presenting the award in his name, the Committee recognizes Ken’s personal accomplishments, contributions to society, and extraordinary courage as examples worthy of emulation.
Despite his quadriplegia, Ken has achieved what few people could even imagine. Following his devastating injury, Ken graduated from Cornell and thereafter earned two masters degrees, one from Cornell and another from Columbia. He initially pursued employment as a rehabilitation counselor, helping the disabled cope with the demands of life. Ken then went on to law school, obtaining a Juris Doctor degree from Hofstra University in 1981. /full article/