Former Northampton High football player Joe "Josh" Novogratz now holds the same distinction at the University of Pittsburgh as Mike Ditka, Marty Schottenheimer, Tony Dorsett and many other former Panthers.

Back on Nov. 1, during Pitt's Homecoming festivities, Novogratz and six other Pitt graduates were named Awardees of Distinction.

Since 1961, the Pitt Varsity Letter Club has honored those members who have distinguished themselves in their profession or community and who, by their accomplishments, have enhanced the value of the intercollegiate athletic program at the University of Pittsburgh. To be eligible, a nominee must have earned a varsity letter from Pitt 25 or more years ago.

After playing for the Konkrete Kids and legendary head coach Al Erdosy, Novogratz graduated in 1961 and spent a year at Bordentown, NJ Military Academy where one of his teammates was running back Floyd Little who went on to play for Syracuse.

At Pitt, Novogratz played linebacker and received honorable mention All-American as a senior. He was selected to both the East-West Shrine Game and the Hula Bowl. He graduated from Pitt in 1966 with a degree in economics and political science. He was drafted by the Steelers and traded to the Minnesota Vikings where he spent a season on the "taxi squad" before his career was cut short by a broken leg suffered in a skiing accident.

Novogratz settled in the Minneapolis area where he raised his family, and in 1979 started his own company, Insulation Distributors, Inc., a wholesale distributor of residential and commercial insulation. Novogratz still serves as President and CEO. The company now has 180 employees in 33 locations across the US, including operations in the Lehigh Valley.

In addition to work in his community coaching, volunteering and raising funds for outreach programs, Novogratz funds two football scholarships, one at the University of Pittsburgh and one at Northampton High School.

In 2007, Novogratz was inducted into the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame and the Northampton High School Athletic Hall of Fame. With that induction, he joined his late brother Ed (Moravian College Football, Class of 1953) and brother Bob (Army Football, Class of 1959) in the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame.