The Kannapolis Education Foundation will honor former A.L. Brown football star Ethan Horton as the recipient of its Kannapolis Citizen of the Year Award.
The award will be presented during the Foundation’s 2011 Celebrity Roast fundraiser, which will be hosted by the “Voice of the Carolina Panthers,” Mick Mixon.
This year’s roast will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, at Shoe Show headquarters in Kannapolis, 2201 Trinity Church Road.
Tickets are on sale for $75 and will include hors d’oeuvres, dinner, dessert and Roast entertainment.
Among the people who will help roast Ethan Horton will be WBTV’s Sports Director Delano Little.
“The Celebrity Roast is a fun way to help students and teachers in Kannapolis City Schools,” foundation chairman Joe Trull said. “This year’s event is extremely important because of state and federal budget cuts. Kannapolis City Schools could lose millions of dollars next year, and this roast will be a great way for us to help provide extra funding.
“Everyone who comes will have a great time, and they’ll help a terrific cause.”
All proceeds from the Ethan Horton Roast will go to support students and teachers in Kannapolis City Schools.
The Kannapolis Education Foundation helps to fund additional technology for students and teachers as well as advanced biotechnology equipment for classrooms.
This year’s honoree, Ethan Horton, was chosen because of his outstanding accomplishments both on and off the football field.
Horton was an All-American quarterback at A.L. Brown High School in the early 1980s. He went on to star at UNC Chapel Hill where he graduated in 1985. He became a first-team All-ACC running back and was the 1984 ACC Player of the Year. Horton also had an outstanding NFL career as a tight end. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Raiders and the Washington Redskins. He made the Pro Bowl in 1992.
Since retiring from the NFL, Horton has enjoyed a successful broadcasting career. He is a radio broadcast analyst for the Carolina Panthers, and he is part of WBTV’s “The Point After” high school football program.
He also makes appearances on WFNZ radio and WCCB-TV. Horton is part of the television broadcast crew for Fox Sports Net’s College Football, the Carolina Panthers’ Pre-Season football games, and “Inside the Game” program on the Urban Sports and Entertainment Network.
Off the field, Ethan Horton spends time substitute teaching and coaching middle school football in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System.
He also does motivational speaking for middle and high school students. Horton helped start the “Developing Minds, Bodies, and Character” after-school program and the Youth Development Football League.
He also is active in raising funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Children’s Miracle Network and the United Way.
Horton serves on the board of directors of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Mental Health, and he is on the board of advisors for the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
Horton is married and has two sons.
To attend the roast, please call 704-938-1131. Reservations are available on a first come, first served basis. The Kannapolis Education Foundation also welcomes donations in honor of Ethan Horton. Contributions may be mailed to 100 Denver St., Kannapolis, 28083.
For more information, contact Ellen Boyd at 704-939-1334.