Fred Digby and Warren Miller's names will always be linked in Sugar Bowl history — Digby as the visionary behind the founding of the game and Miller as the author of the bowl's constitution and first president of what was then known as the Mid-Winter Sports Association.

And now, the two for whom the game's outstanding player trophy is named, are being honored together by the Football Bowl Association.

They, along with the Cotton Bowl's Field Scovell and Ernie Seiler of the Orange Bowl all will receive the FBA's Legacy Award at the group's annual meeting next month in Boise, Idaho. Sugar Bowl chief executive officer Paul Hoolahan will accept the awards for Miller and Digby, who died in 1947 and 1958, on behalf of their families.

"It's a true honor to represent these fine men," Hoolahan said. "Without their early leadership, the Sugar Bowl would not enjoy the status it has today."

As sports editor of the New Orleans Item, Digby first proposed a bowl game for the city in 1927, seven years before it came to fruition.

It took Tulane going to the 1932 Rose Bowl to bring it about.

"What the little city of Pasadena (California) has done with the Tournament of Roses," New Orleans can do a hundred times better with a Carnival of Sports," Digby wrote, advocating for not just a football game but boxing, golf, tennis, track and a special handicap race at the Fair Grounds and a regatta.

Miller, an attorney best known for being a thorn in the side of Gov. Huey P. Long, and a member of the Co-Operative Club, drafted the game's charter. Among its provisions was that the Sugar Bowl was to be "a voluntary nonprofit civic organization whose members serve without remuneration."

He also put in the stipulation that every Sugar Bowler purchase his own tickets, a policy still in force.

"My father loved sports, but his main concern was brining money into New Orleans," said Bonnie Gunsaulus, Miller's daughter, in a 2008 interview. "He did things for the Sugar Bowl that only an attorney could do.

"Whenever there was a bone of contention, he would say, 'Let's do what's best for the Sugar Bowl.' "

When Miller died in 1947, the MVP trophy was established in his honor. Digby's name was added to the trophy after his death.

The other two honorees were vital to the development of their bowl games.

Scovell's association with the Cotton Bowl began in 1948. He was a member of the selection committee from 1963-92, serving as chairman after 1975.

The Fred Scovell Trophy is presented to the Cotton Bowl winner each year.

Seiler led the Orange Bowl Festival for 42 years. He was responsible for the over-the-top halftime shows that became an Orange Bowl trademark.

"Each of these individuals represent a legacy that is re-recognized each year by the success of the Sugar Bowl, the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl," FBA executive director Wright Waters said. "Each of those games is iconic in its own right and an institution in their cities.

"Each owes its success to the early achievements of these four pioneers."