ATLANTA (Dec. 27, 2021) – George P. Crumbley, the original founder and executive director of the Peach Bowl, will be inducted as a member of the 2021 Bowl Season Leadership Hall of Fame class.
The Bowl Season Leadership Hall of Fame recognizes individuals or groups who have contributed significantly to college football bowl organizations, and furthered the benefits of bowl games for the advancement of their communities and college football as a whole.
Other inductees to the 2021 class include Jim "Hoss" Brock (Cotton Bowl), Mitch Dorger (Rose Bowl), Dan McNamara (Orange Bowl), Chuck Rohe (Citrus Bowl) and Bruce Skinner (Fiesta Bowl).
Commonly known as the "Father of the Peach Bowl," Crumbley was instrumental in the creation of Atlanta's annual bowl game tradition.
"George P. Crumbley left a long-lasting legacy on the sport of college football in the city of Atlanta," said Peach Bowl Inc. CEO & President Gary Stokan. "It's truly surreal to see how the Peach Bowl has evolved over the years into one of the most prestigious bowl games in the county, and the lasting impact it has had on countless coaches, players and fans, as well as the broader Atlanta community."
In the 1960's, Crumbley came up with the concept to start the Peach Bowl as a way to raise money for his favorite charity, the Georgia Lions' Lighthouse, an organization dedicated to helping underserved Georgians with vision and hearing care.
Knowing how prevalent college football was in the South, Crumbley envisioned an end-of-season bowl game as a way to generate money for the Lighthouse. His hope was that all the proceeds from the game would be donated to helping the visually and audibly impaired, making the bowl the first-ever charitable bowl game.
He formed a six-man committee of Atlanta Lions to bid for a new Atlanta-based bowl before the NCAA bowl committee in 1966. After facing two initial roadblocks during their first two attempts, Crumbley and the Lions remained undeterred and were finally granted bowl certification in April of 1968, forming the ninth bowl game in college football history.
In just eight months under Crumbley's leadership, the Peach Bowl found its home at Georgia Tech's Grant Field, had its broadcast partner in the Mizlou Sports Network, recruited volunteers to put the game on, was being promoted on WSB-TV, and had locked in two teams with Florida State and LSU.
More importantly, the initiative behind the game was preserved. With the success of the game, Crumbley and the Peach Bowl donated $100,000 to the Lions Lighthouse, made the $100,000 payouts to LSU and Florida State, and also put money in their reserves to bid on future teams for their bowl games. The Peach Bowl would donate $100,000 to the Lions Lighthouse after every bowl game under his guidance, and still donates annually to the foundation to this day.
Crumbley served as executive director of Atlanta's postseason collegiate football game for 18 years until 1985. During that time, more than $1 million was raised for the benefit of the visually impaired in Georgia, more than 786,000 fans attended the game and over 16.2 million was generated for team payouts.
The bowl started by Crumbley is now a member of the New Year's Six, has distributed $209 million in team payouts, generated more than $754.1 million in economic impact for Atlanta, while also drawing 3.1 million fans to its games and 202 million viewers on ESPN all-time.
Crumbley's presence and legacy still lives on today with the George P. Crumbley Trophy, which is presented annually to the winner of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. His vision for the first-ever charitable bowl game has also come full circle as Peach Bowl, Inc. has earned the dubious honor of being college football's most charitable bowl organization, having donated $58.3 million in charity since 2002.
