What Is the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award?

Updated

The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is presented annually by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation to the top senior or upperclassman quarterback in college football. It is not a pro award and not a career-achievement honor for NFL play; it recognizes a college quarterback in the upper stages of his eligibility. The award is one part of johnnyunitas.com, the official site devoted to the Baltimore Colts quarterback known as “The Golden Arm.”

Who gives the award, and to whom

The site states the award is “presented annually to the top senior or upperclassmen quarterback by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation.” That single sentence answers the two practical questions readers usually have:

  • Recipient: a college quarterback who is a senior or otherwise an upperclassman.
  • Presenter: the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, the charity Unitas started in 1987.

The foundation’s stated purpose is broader than the trophy: it promotes the game of football and provides financial assistance to underprivileged and deserving young athletes. The award and the foundation therefore share a name and a mission, but they are not the same thing—one is an annual honor, the other is the organization behind it.

Why the award exists, in the site’s own framing

The site explains the motivation directly: college football fans and media often focus on touchdown passes, elusive runs, ferocious tackles and quarterback sacks, and “we lose sight of other important matters of college athletics.” The Golden Arm Award is described as encapsulating “all that is positive in college sports.”

That framing matters if you are trying to understand what the award rewards. It is presented as a counterweight to highlight-reel stats—an honor tied to the values Unitas carried from the field into his community work, rather than simply to the loudest passing numbers.

Where it fits on johnnyunitas.com

The site organizes Unitas’s legacy into a few clear sections, and the award is one of them:

Section What it covers
About Johnny Unitas His career (1950s–1970s, mostly with the Baltimore Colts), three NFL MVP seasons (1959, 1964, 1967), and his record of touchdown passes in 47 consecutive games (1956–1960)
Golden Arm Foundation The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, started in 1987
Golden Arm Award The annual college quarterback honor
Shop Collectables Merchandise such as a 1967 Legacy Jersey and Bradford Exchange collections
Hunt Auctions Super Bowl LVIII live auction lots from Unitas’s personal collection

If your question is specifically about the award, the “Golden Arm Award” section is the relevant one; the foundation section explains who runs it.

Common points of confusion

  • “Golden Arm” is a nickname before it is an award. Unitas himself was nicknamed “The Golden Arm,” which is why the foundation and the trophy carry the name.
  • The award is for college players. The site’s description of Unitas’s own career—record-setting quarterback, three-time MVP—is context for the award’s namesake, not the award’s criteria.
  • The foundation and the award are distinct. One provides financial assistance to young athletes; the other is an annual honor for an upperclassman quarterback.

For the current recipient, eligibility details, or selection process, the site’s Golden Arm Award section is the place to check; the available page material describes the award’s purpose and presenter but does not list a selection committee or a full winners archive.