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The Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation announced today that former UCLA All-American quarterback, Rose Bowl Hall of Famer and College Football Hall of Famer Cade McNown will have Tunnel 8 at the Rose Bowl Stadium named in his honor.
The naming of the tunnel at the Stadium, which is on the venue’s northeast side, has been made possible thanks to several private contributions to the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation in honor of McNown. A ceremony will be held later in 2020 to celebrate the honor.
“The Rose Bowl has always and will always hold a very special place in my heart,” said McNown. “Words can’t describe how humbled I feel to be bestowed with this tremendous honor.”
McNown will be enshrined in the prestigious College Football Hall of Fame by the National Football Foundation as part of its 2020 class later this year. In calling the Rose Bowl its home field since 1982, McNown is the only UCLA Bruin in the program’s storied history to have thrown for at least 10,000 career yards. He will become the 16th Bruin to enter the College Football Hall of Fame. McNown had a lifetime 4-0 record against cross-town rivals USC and led some of the most iconic years in Bruin football history.
He quarterbacked the Bruins to a school record 20 straight wins over the course of the 1997 and 1998 seasons, posting a 30-14 career record as a starter. Following the 1997 season, McNown helped to engineer a comeback win over Texas A&M in the 1998 Cotton Bowl while earning Offensive MVP honors. He finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy balloting that year and led the nation in passing efficiency with a mark of 168.6 after completing over 61% of his passing attempts and throwing 24 touchdown passes against six interceptions.
“Cade is part of the heartbeat of our historic venue for so many reasons,” said CEO and General Manager Darryl Dunn. “It is an honor for us to educate our visitors on his legacy and impact on the game of college football at America’s Stadium.”
A consensus 1998 All-American, McNown was named the Pac-10 Co-Offensive Player of the Year and the winner of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. He was selected as the Quarterback of the Year by the Quarterback Club of Washington, D.C., as well as, the Pop Warner Award recipient recognizing him as the top player on the West Coast for the 1998 campaign. McNown was also a Davey O’Brien Award finalist, third in the voting for the 1998 Heisman Trophy.
Growing up in California and Oregon, Cade has strong roots in the Southern California community and in the Rose Bowl family. A current member of the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation’s Advisory Board, he was a four-year starter at quarterback for the Bruins. The left-hander led the UCLA Bruins to two Pac-10 Championships and a Rose Bowl Game appearance in 1999. As two-time All-American, he left UCLA as the career record-holder in nearly every statistical category before being drafted in the 1st round (12th overall) by the Chicago Bears in the 1999 NFL Draft, Cade played professionally for four seasons with the Bears, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers.
“Cade has always been an extremely special part of this stadium’s history and that of UCLA Football,” said Chief Development Officer Dedan Brozino. “Thank you to the many donors who supported this project to ensure that Cade’s legacy is highlighted in such a special to all fans whenever they visit the Rose Bowl Stadium.”
Beginning in 2017 with the dedication of the Jackie Robinson football statue in front of its main entrance, the Legacy Foundation has continued adding significant heritage projects around the venue’s property due to key donations from its support base. Other completed statues include the 1999 Team USA Women’s World Cup Championship Team and Keith Jackson, both dedicated in 2019. In 2017, the venue’s original locker room was saved and currently serves as a museum-like space recognizing the history of the National Historic Landmark.
Last year, with significant help in its planning from Pasadena Heritage, Legacy began raising funds to place historical markers around the venue to highlight some of its key moments. McNown’s marker is the third on the property thus far (Myron Hunt at Gate A). The Legacy Foundation hopes to add more historical markers to educate its visitors about past events and contributors to the Stadium’s sports and entertainment timeline. Some markers include UCLA’s ‘Gutty Little Bruins’, UCLA’s 1982 move to the Rose Bowl, Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler, Grambling Coach Eddie Robinson, George Halas, the Ivy League, Brown University star Fritz Pollard, Notre Dame’s Knute Rockne, Stanford’s Pop Warner, and several more.
McNown entered the financial sector after his football career, and he is currently a senior managing director for Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors in Los Angeles where he is responsible for institutional business development and client relations. He serves on various committees and boards for organizations such as Young Life, Friends of Golf (FOG), and Scouts BSA. He has also consistently volunteered at the California Showcase, an event sponsored by the NFF and headed by legendary UCLA Coach Terry Donahue that gives unsigned high school football players an opportunity to try out for divisional college football programs and earn scholarships.
About the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation
Formed in 2010, the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation is a 501©3, tax-exempt organization whose primary goal is to financially ensure the protection, preservation and enhancement of the future of the Stadium as a National Historic Landmark. The Foundation has established funding for key capital improvement initiatives, educational programming and heritage protection due to the generosity of supporters from around the world who are invested in its premier future.
About the Rose Bowl Stadium
The Rose Bowl Stadium is the proud home of the Tournament of Roses’ Rose Bowl Game, UCLA Bruins football, AmericaFest Fourth of July Celebration, concerts including Kenny Chesney, Coldplay, Taylor Swift and U2, international and Premier League soccer matches and the World’s Largest Flea Market.
A National Historic Landmark built in 1922 and known around the world, the Rose Bowl Stadium has earned its world class reputation by hosting five NFL Super Bowl games, the 1984 Olympic Soccer matches, the 1994 Men’s World Cup, the 1999 Women’s World Cup, four BCS National College Football Championship Games and the College Football Playoff Semi-Final game.
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