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Soldier Field goes purple for NGN auction
Corey Wooten (left) and Nick Roach (right), former varsity players for Northwestern, now with the Bears, provided the guests with up-close looks at the Bears locker room. Tammy Walker (center), of Evanston, enjoyed visiting with the former players.
Northwestern Gridiron Network Auction
BENEFITING: Northwestern University Football
DATE: June 2
LOCATION: Soldier Field, Chicago
ATTENDED: 400
RAISED: $150,000
Article Extras
Updated: October 10, 2012 3:37PM
On June 2, all roads led to Soldier Field for the first off-campus celebration by the Northwestern Gridiron Network (NGN), the support group for Wildcat football.
The legendary home of the Chicago Bears hosted the NGN’s 19th annual Spring Auction Dinner, a night of fun and excitement to benefit Chicago’s Big Ten Team.
“Northwestern is Chicago’s Big Ten Team and I can’t think of a more exciting and more centrally-located venue for our fans to celebrate NU football than Soldier Field,” said NGN president Bob Hayward. “The support of the NGN is critical to maintaining Wildcat Football as a winning Big Ten program, whether through funding state-of-the-art tech support for the coaches and players or upgrading training equipment and facilities such as the FieldTurf practice field. We also engage with the players through networking opportunities and resumé-coaching as our alumni continue to mentor players after their time on campus.”
No one complained about the number of Blackberries and smart phones being used. A new form of auction bidding from Auctions by Cellular introduced at the 19th annual Northwestern Gridiron Network (NGN) Auction had texts and bids furiously entered from coast to coast, i.e. Ashland, Oregon to New York City as well as the United Club at Soldier Field.
The new venue proved to be a winner with approximately 400 NU fans and friends snapping pictures in the Bears locker room with former ’Cat players, now Bears, Corey Wooten and Nick Roach ,who proved to be good guides.
Attendees also enjoyed cocktails on the field with great views of the entire stadium, exciting highlights of the 2011 NU season on giant video screens and fireworks over Lake Michigan. Fans were able to bid on such luxurious auction items as vacation packages, plane trips, restaurant outings, jewelry, sports memorabilia and theatre offerings.
Other offers on this special evening include a wine raffle featuring 100 bottles of wine to a lucky winner, as well as the chance for parents to purchase their child a day as NU football’s gameday kickoff tee retriever next fall.
The festivities raised a record amount, $150,000.
The NGN has been raising funds for the Northwestern football program for many years providing additional resources for recruiting, coaching world-class student athletes and training with the goal of winning Big 10 championships and bowl games.
The event will be held again next year at Soldier Field on June 1, 2013. To find out more about the NGN auction, contact Jean Yale at j-yale@northwestern.edu or (847) 491-3694.
