NFL General Manager to Talk at Gala

June 08, 2011 - News Release

The University of Guelph football team will hold an inaugural coach’s gala June 11, including a talk by U of G alumnus and former Gryphon Thomas Dimitroff Jr., general manager of the Atlanta Falcons.

Named the National Football League (NFL) executive of the year in February, Dimitroff will discuss management of an NFL team and how to build a successful professional sports franchise.

The formal-dress event is a fundraiser for the Gryphon football scholarship and Gryphon recruitment programs.

Dimitroff, a 1990 BA grad, played five seasons for the Gryphons and was team captain from 1987 to 1989.

After beginning his career as a scout in the Canadian Football League (CFL), he moved to the World League, where he scouted all NFL, CFL and World League rosters. He worked with three NFL teams, including the New England Patriots, who won the Super Bowl in 2003 and 2004 and who had been undefeated in 2007 before Dimitroff signed on with the Falcons.

In Atlanta, he received an award as executive of the year — his second in three seasons — for helping the team post three consecutive winning seasons. Since 2008, Atlanta has had a 33-15 record, tied for third-best in the NFL.

Dimitroff has deep roots in Guelph. His father, Tom Dimitroff Sr., coached the Gryphons from 1979 to 1983, and his brother, Randy (BA ’86), played for the squad that won the 1984 Vanier Cup. Randy’s son, Dillon, is now a Gryphon.

Tickets for the coach’s gala are $200 and include cocktails and dinner. There will be door prizes and a silent auction. The event will take place at Cutten Fields (formerly the Cutten Club).

Tickets are available at the Gryphon box office at http://gryphons.ca/boxoffice. For more information, including corporate sponsorship opportunities, contact Sam Kosakowski at skosakow@uoguelph.ca or 519-824-4120, Ext. 58463.

For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt, Ext. 53338, lhunt@uoguelph.ca, or Deirdre Healey, Ext. 56982, d.healey@exec.uoguelph.ca.

University of Guelph
50 Stone Road East
Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1
Canada
519-824-4120