About Vic

About Vic Maitland

The Man Behind the Gold Jacket

Vic Maitland’s story is one of grit, gratitude, and a lifelong vow to give back to the game that shaped him.

He was drafted by the New York Giants in 1944 and was soon after traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. But just as his professional career was beginning, World War II intervened. Still, his love for football never faded.

After the war, Vic made a choice few others would have: he turned down a full-time professional football career in favor of a greater opportunity—using the relationships and discipline the game had given him to build a legacy off the field. He joined U.S. Steel, where his background as a former player gave him an edge in sales and executive leadership. Eventually, he launched his own firm, Vic Maitland & Associates, a successful advertising agency that represented major clients including Westinghouse, Columbia Gas, AMF, and Duquesne Brewing.

By his mid-50s, Vic had achieved what many would call the American dream. With his children grown and his beloved wife having just overcome cancer, he retired early and moved to Fort Lauderdale—grateful, fulfilled, and ready to enjoy the next chapter of life with his family.

Little did he know football would come calling, again. 

In the summer of 1977, the newly formed NFL Alumni Association was faltering. With little funding, no structure, and no clear leadership, its founders were looking for someone with integrity, vision, and business acumen to turn it around. As described in the inaugural issue of TIME OUT, the group’s first official newsletter:

“Then the answers found us. General Chip, a close friend, and Andy Farkas recruited Vic Maitland (retired just last year in advertising and now living in Fort Lauderdale).”
— Bill Dudley, NFL Alumni President

They didn’t just ask Vic for advice—they asked him to lead and his answer was yes.

The $1-a-Year Man

Vic accepted the role of Founding CEO of the NFL Alumni Association—not for fame, salary, or recognition. In fact, he famously accepted the job as a volunteer for just $1 a year, a symbolic salary that was later commemorated with a signed dollar bill from then-President Bill Dudley.

He ran the operation out of his own building. He hired staff, created infrastructure, filed for nonprofit status, and paid out of pocket for everything from legal counsel to office supplies. Over the next 12 years, he quietly contributed over $1 million of his personal time, service, and resources to build something that had never existed before: a professional alumni network that honored football’s past while giving hope to its future.

What He Created

Under Vic’s leadership (1977–1989), the NFL Alumni became the most respected alumni organization in all of professional sports. He built programs, symbols, and systems that are still alive today:

  • The Player of the Year Awards Dinner
    Held every Super Bowl Week — “the best of the past honoring the best of the present” — where former NFL greats selected the top current players at each position.

  • The Order of the Leather Helmet
    Football’s highest honor, created by Vic and first awarded to legends like Art Rooney and George Halas. Vic himself received the award in 1986.

  • The NFL Alumni Golf Classic Series
    What began as two pilot tournaments grew into 32 cities, becoming the largest charity golf series in America and raising nearly $1.2 million annually for youth-focused causes.

  • The Super Bowl of Golf
    A prestigious national championship where top business leaders and former pros competed for a coveted custom-designed ring—symbolizing both athletic and philanthropic excellence.

  • The Gold Blazers
    Presented to Hall of Famers as a symbol of prestige—Vic’s original concept, introduced years before Haggar’s commercial partnership. The jacket became a living emblem of football immortality.

  • The Mission: “Caring for Kids”
    The NFL Alumni’s official mission, championed by Vic and nationally endorsed by President Ronald Reagan and blessed by Pope John Paul II.

  • The Old Hero Award
    Created to honor extraordinary role models from football and American public life, including recipients like President Gerald Ford, Bob Hope, and Walter Cronkite.

  • Pro Legends, Inc.
    A strategic for-profit subsidiary Vic founded to support pre-1959 players who were excluded from the NFL retirement system. Through licensing, appearances, and endorsements, it created income opportunities while legally supporting the Alumni’s charitable mission.

  • Pension Parity for Pre-1959 NFL Players
    Vic led a decade-long campaign that culminated in 1985, winning long-overdue pension inclusion for the league’s early pioneers—many of whom had been left with nothing.

  • National 501(c)(3) Status
    Vic secured official charitable status for the NFL Alumni Association, unlocking national fundraising ability and legitimacy.

  • Televised NFL Games
    In the early 1950s, Vic partnered with Steelers owner Art Rooney to pitch the idea of nationally televised football. The program made $67,000 in its first year and laid the groundwork for the NFL’s modern media empire.

The Forgotten Founder

Vic Maitland never sought attention. He let the work speak for itself.

He received handwritten letters of gratitude from presidents, governors, athletes—and even Pope John Paul II. He met with President Reagan in the Oval Office. He earned standing ovations from players and executives alike. He even invited Bob Hope to help co-create Hope for a Drug-Free America—a campaign built on Vic’s vision of using celebrity for social change.

But despite building the very foundation the NFL Alumni still stands on today—despite giving the Gold Jacket its soul—his name has quietly disappeared from the official narrative.

And not without resistance.

In 1990, the State of Arizona filed a civil suit against the NFL Alumni, Pro Legends, Inc., and Vic Maitland, related to fundraising events conducted by the Arizona chapter during his tenure. The case alleged violations of the state’s consumer protection laws—but Vic never admitted any wrongdoing, nor was he ever criminally charged.

The matter was resolved through a Consent Judgment, settled out of court without admission of guilt, as explicitly noted in the Superior Court filing:

“Defendant Victor Maitland… consents to the entry of the judgment but does not admit any of the allegations contained in the Complaint.”
— Superior Court of Arizona, CV90-14790

The agreement also confirmed that no inducements or promises were made in exchange for Vic’s signature, and that the sole purpose of the settlement was to close the litigation. A separate Grand Jury proceeding was also formally closed, and Vic was ultimately found to be in violation of no laws.

In addition, an independent private audit conducted at the time affirmed that the vast majority of the so-called “Maitland-related expenses” were office-related costs—including travel, staffing, and lease payments Vic had personally underwritten or discounted. Between 1977 and 1989, Vic voluntarily contributed over $1 million of his own money, time, and services to support the NFL Alumni.

Even in the face of controversy, he remained true to his values, canceled all lease agreements for the Alumni’s headquarters, and walked away—quietly and without retaliation.

And in the years that followed, the truth became impossible to ignore.

On January 27, 2001—eleven years after the civil suit—the very organization Vic Maitland had founded issued an official proclamation naming him a Lifetime Honorary Professional Member of the NFL Alumni. The document credited him as the driving force behind the organization’s national success and praised the legacy he left behind.

But that acknowledgment was never made public. It was issued privately, and to this day, there is no record of the proclamation anywhere online.

When the Maitland family began reaching out in 2024 and again in 2025 to properly honor Vic’s legacy, they were met with silence.

Since March 2024, the Maitland family has made multiple formal requests to the NFL Alumni Association to publicly recognize Vic’s role as the organization’s founding CEO. As of today, no official statement has been made.

In April 2025, Vic’s granddaughter—disheartened by the lack of recognition—submitted a formal nomination to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, believing he would be a clear candidate in the Contributor category.

In the process, she contacted Haggar Clothing Company, long associated with the Gold Jacket. Shockingly, they had no record of Vic Maitland and no archived materials related to the jacket’s origin.

Even more confounding, when she reached out to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, she was told they had no knowledge of Vic Maitland or any documentation regarding the creation of the Gold Jacket tradition.

This total absence—despite decades of evidence—defies logic. And for those who knew the truth, it felt like something more than oversight. It felt like erasure. 

But what happened next has never been explained.

Vic Maitland created immense value—for the NFL Alumni, the league, the Hall of Fame, and Haggar Clothing Company. He designed the original NFL Alumni shield. He introduced the concept of the Gold Blazer. Those two pieces alone have generated millions of dollars over the decades, and yet his name has been systematically erased.

Why?

Maybe it's because Vic was never an employee. He was an independent contractor, a volunteer, a founder who couldn’t be controlled—and didn’t answer to anyone.

And when you can't control the person who holds the original vision…
Sometimes the next best option is to cut them out of it entirely.

What followed was a civil suit, a quiet exit, and more than three decades of silence.

Since then, both the NFL and NFL Alumni have made multiple failed attempts to trademark the NFL Alumni shield—six in total. The Gold Jacket, for all its fanfare, still isn’t trademarked by anyone to this day.

If either entity had truly created those icons, don’t you think they’d own the rights by now?

Sometimes, the absence of ownership says everything.

This website exists to correct the record.

What you choose to make of that story is up to you.
But the facts are here now.
And the truth has finally been unburied. 

Vic Maitland built something that still stands today.
He fought for the players the league forgot.
He created the systems, the symbols, and the traditions that still define what football is—not just as a sport, but as a legacy.

When you talk about the names that shaped the game—Rooney, Lombardi, Halas, Manning—there’s one more you need to know: MAITLAND.

It’s time America knew the truth. 

It's time America met The Man Behind the Gold Jacket.