Springfield Police officer to receive Leo Harris Award at Ducks home game

A local police officer and former Duck player will be recognized with a prestigious award on the Autzen field.

Springfield Police Officer Allan Amundson is the recipient of the 2026 Leo Harris Award. Amundson is a school resource officer at Thurston High School and has been with SPD for more than 20 years. He is a graduate of University of Oregon, earning a bachelor's in psychology in 2003.

Amundson said when he got the call about the Leo Harris Award, he was half-convinced it was a scam. It wasn't until the person on the other line mentioned Beth Campbell, who works in the UO athletic department, that he realized it was the real deal.

"I'm just shocked," Amundson said. "There's so many awesome athletes and people doing amazing things. I'm just honored to be a part of it."

Amundson, who played as a return specialist and running back at Oregon from 1999-2002, ranks fourth all-time in program history with 1,680 kick return yards and also tallied 520 rushing yards over four seasons with four touchdowns. Amundson helped the Ducks to wins in the 1999 Sun Bowl, 2000 Holiday Bowl and 2002 Fiesta Bowl and is a member of the Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the 2001 football team. He also ran track at Oregon.

The Leo Harris Award is more than a Duck alum's time on the field; it's all about recognizing those who have demonstrated 20 years of outstanding achievement and service since their final varsity season.

The road to Oregon: How Amundson ended up at UO

Amundson moved around a lot in his childhood, but spent much of his youth in Marin County north of San Francisco. He played football and track in high school and always aspired to attend a Division I college. Initially, he leaned toward San Jose State, which was close to home and had a highly rated criminal justice program.

But in 1999, he accepted a spot on the Oregon team. He was quickly grouped in with running backs, which was his preferred position. While at Oregon, Amundson was a backup running back and the primary return specialist.

"It was just an amazing experience to play at Autzen," Amundson said. "I feel like they're the best fans in the world."

Amundson got injured early on in his freshman year at Oregon, resulting in a surgery that took him out of most of that first season.

From football team to police team

A career in law enforcement was always Amundson's dream.

He interned at SPD while he was still at UO. Amundson recalled being immediately taken with the job, looking up to the officers he shadowed.

"I figured, before I get into this career, I should see what it's like. I mean — it can't be as cool as it looks on TV, you know?" Amundson remembered thinking. "This is what I want to do. I can't believe these guys get paid to do this. I need to do this. This is my calling."

But after graduating, he was picked by the San Francisco 49ers as a free agent. They placed him T cornerback, a defensive position he had little to no experience playing in. Immediately, he felt imposter syndrome, going up against the best players in the world, but he said the 49ers saw something in him.

He was sent to NFL Europe where he played a couple seasons to develop his skills.

In the off season, Amundson said he was waiting tables in his hometown county, living with his girlfriend, now wife, when he got a call from an officer he interned for in Springfield to say SPD was hiring. At the time, Amundson was waiting for the 49ers to let him know whether they wanted him for a third season in NFL Europe.

Torn between the prospects of two dream jobs, Amundson decided to apply to SPD.

"I got hired with the Springfield police, and loved it," Amundson said. "I have no regrets and never looked back. I'm just so glad the way everything's kind of worked out in my life."

Since being hired by SPD in 2005, Amundson has been a patrol officer and been on the SWAT team. He's also been active in an abundance of community service efforts like Bridge the Gap, Tip a Cop, Shop with a Cop, Springfield Cleanup, Popsicle Patrol, Toys for Tots, and Special Olympics. Amundson said he always jumps at opportunities to work with the community and is grateful SPD provides those opportunities.

He's been highly awarded. Amundson was named Springfield Police Officer of the Year in 2012, is a Medal of Valor recipient and has earned multiple SPD Chief's Awards.

Amundson said he's grateful to work in Springfield, where the citizens are generally friendly to police. He said over the years, anti-police sentiments have spiked, but through those times, the city of Springfield has rallied around the department.

"There's been times where I'm walking into Walmart because there's a theft call or something and a little old lady like stops me to give me a hug and say, 'Thank you for your service,'" Amundson said. "I don't know her, and she doesn't know me, but that's the support that we get from our citizens, which just makes our job so much easier.

"Our goal is to keep the community safe, work with the community," he said. "Our community is a part of our Springfield police team is the way I see it."

In 2020, Amundson applied to become the school resource officer (SRO) stationed at Thurston High School, covering the east side of the Springfield Public Schools district. At the time, many school districts like Eugene School District 4J were doing away with SROs.

At THS, Amundson's goal is to build rapport with students, staff and families.

His happy-go-lucky personality helps, he said. Any given day during the school year, Amundson can be seen at Thurston High or one of the other schools he covers, greeting students, giving high-fives and answering questions. He said the true reward is the smiles on kids' faces when he gives them a sticker or concedes to joining in their TikTok dance. Those relationships keep him going.

"A lot of students are kind of intimidated, or even adults are intimidated, by a police officer," Amundson said. "I want to break that barrier. I want to let students, people, know that we, as officers, are just regular people. We have families and hobbies, we joke around.

"This is a job, and sometimes there's hard parts that we've got to do, but we're people."

About the Leo Harris Award

UO's first Athletic Director Leo Harris founded the award in 1967. Originally called the "Alumni Athletic Award," is was renamed in Harris' honor shortly after its creation. Harris, who is credited with pushing for the construction of Autzen Stadium, was athletic director from 1947 to 1967. He died in 1990.

Huge names in Ducks sports history have received the award like NFL Hall of Famers Norm Van Brocklin, Dan Fouts and Dave Wilcox. Also among awardees are former University of Southern California head coach John McKay, Nike designer Tinker Hatfield and Olympian Bill Dellinger.

Amundson said he felt "unbelievably honored" to see his name among their ranks.

He was on duty at Thurston High when he got the call. He ran to the dean of student's office to tell him the news.

"I told Jared (Taylor), 'I think they made a mistake, look at these names on here,'" Amundson said, reviewing the nearly 50 years of awardees. "I almost feel like I don't deserve it."

But Amundson has since been reassured by friends and family of his place among the recipients.

"I'm honored and proud," Amundson said. "Just to be nominated, that someone thought of me, it's humbling."

Amundson will return to the Autzen field to receive his award during the Ducks game against UCLA on Oct. 10. Amundson said he's a bit nervous. Despite having played games on the field, then he was part of a team. In this context, he'll be the center of attention.

Doug Koke, Domenique (Lainez) Rice among 2026 awardees

Amundson isn't the only Duck to receive the awards from Oregon Athletics this year. A release published on July 9 also listed the winners of the Order of the O Honorarium and Becky L. Sisley Award.

Doug Koke is receiving the 2026 Order of the O Honorarium posthumously. The award is given to someone who has made a contribution UO Athletics, but was not a varsity letterwinner. Koke was known for riding the Oregon Harley-Davidson into Autzen Stadium with the Duck on his tail. Although not an alum, he was a lifelong Ducks fan. He died in December.

Domenique (Lainez) Rice, a former starting goalkeeper and co-captain on the Oregon soccer team, is receiving the Becky L. Sisley Award. It's awarded to a former female student-athlete to commemorate community involvement. Now, living in New York, Rice co-founded PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy, a stillbirth awareness and prevention advocacy organization, which is dedicated to her stillborn son, TJ.

Oregon Ducks reporter Alec Dietz contributed to this article.

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on X @mirandabcyr.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Springfield Police officer to receive Leo Harris Award at Ducks home game