Texas high school football honored by Gerdau and Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth, Texas and Gerdau Ameristeel, the second-largest steel mini-mill company in the country and one of the nation’s leading recyclers of steel, announced the launch of a statewide “Cradle of Champions” campaign honoring Texas’ historic legacy of high school football. As part of the launch, Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief joined Gerdau Ameristeel in announcing the concept for a steel monument honoring all Texas high school football players who have successfully reached “The League,” which will be unveiled in Sundance Square the week of Pro Football’s championship game.

For the past two years, Gerdau Ameristeel has created “Champion” structures displayed throughout the week in the host city of pro football’s Championship Games in Tampa and Miami. These unique steel tribute pieces have quickly become a championship tradition and are considered must-see destinations for both locals and visitors in each city.

This year’s “Cradle of Champions” campaign is Gerdau Ameristeel’s most-ambitious and exhilarating project to date. With the help of Fort Worth, they are asking all Texas high schools to submit the names of qualified alumni and a piece of steel (scrap, bolt, etc.) from their own football facility or school, which will be repurposed with recycled steel from the recently demolished stadium in North Texas, to create a special steel monument that celebrates Texas high school football. The legacy structure will list the names of every submitted and confirmed Texas high school football player who has successfully reached “The League.”

“The great state of Texas has long been a national ‘cradle’ in developing some of history’s greatest professional football players,” said Moncrief. “With this season’s championship game being played here in North Texas, there is no better time to honor and celebrate the achievements of our home-grown football stars. For this reason, I join Gerdau Ameristeel in encouraging every high school in the Lone Star State to register for this program, submit the names of their applicable alumni and send in a piece of steel from their school. There is no cost to participate.”

Gerdau Ameristeel will be collecting and melting submitted steel for this year’s monument at its Midlothian plant.