Vol. 55, No. 3 - FootballFoundation.org

Transcription

> Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne is among an outstanding list of inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame. The 2013 class will be inducted
December 10th at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City.
the NFF Footballetter
> Welcome From President and CEO Steve Hatchell
The National Football Foundation’s Footballetter
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Welcome to the first digital issue of the Footballetter. First published in 1959,
the Footballetter has remained a constant and powerful communication vehicle
for the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame. The first
issue contained compelling content, including U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1958 NFF Gold Medal acceptance speech and a “Statement of Aims” by
NFF Executive Director Harvey Harman. As one might expect, the themes about
football’s value to society outlined by Eisenhower and Harman in the first issue
endure today, permeating all of the NFF initiatives. You can click here to read
the first issue.
Providing readers easy access to old issues of the Footballetter represents just
one of the innovative enhancements that a digital format provides us. Going digital creates enormous flexibility in tapping the vast NFF collection of videos, photos, artifacts and speeches. More importantly, we anticipate the digital format
will allow us to reach more people, hopefully engaging new readers as members
in support of our mission. We take great pride in collaborating with IMG to
launch the digital version, and we thank them for their creativity and skills in making this happen. We welcome your
feedback and ideas, which you can email to [email protected].
In this issue, we have chosen to feature the 2013 College Football Hall of Fame Class from the Football Bowl Subdivision in advance of their Dec. 10 induction at the 56th NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City. In the past,
we have had to squeeze two profiles onto one print page. In the new digital format, we have been able to expand the
photos to a full page. Likewise, the new format allows us to enhance the photo layout for the latest treasure from NFF
Historian Dan Jenkins, which highlights the 25 greatest passing plays of all-time. Finally, please check out our first
video link, which you will be able to find in the four-page spread on the new College Football Hall of Fame. The video
captures some of the enormous excitement that continues to build for this project.
As you read the Footballetter, we encourage you to remember the valuable role football has played in your life, and
we ask you to think about how you can give back to our sport. This organization is yours. Reach out to us with your
ideas. Connect with your local chapter. Get involved. Become a member at www.footballfoundation.org/membership.
Thank you for your continued support, passion, creativity and interest.
Respectfully,
Steve Hatchell
NFF President and CEO
Please consider including the NFF in your annual gift planning. To learn more about making a financial gift, please contact NFF
Director of Finance Sue Tuggle at (972) 556-1000 or by email at [email protected]. The NFF is a 501(c) (3) taxexempt organization, and your financial contribution may be eligible for tax benefits based on your individual circumstances.
2013 NFF Key Dates
> Oct. 20:
> Oct. 31:
> Dec. 8:
> Dec. 10:
> Dec. 10:
> Dec. 10:
> Dec. 10:
Initial BCS Standings Release
Announcement of 2013 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments – Irving
Final BCS Standings Release – New York City
NFF Annual Awards Dinner Press Conference at the Waldorf=Astoria – New York City
NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon, presented by Under Armour, the Waldorf=Astoria – New York City
56th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel – New York City
24th Presentation of Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, to the nation's top scholar-athlete at
the Waldorf=Astoria – New York City
> Dec. 11-12: Annual IMG Intercollegiate Athletics Forum at the New York Marriott Marquis – New York City
> Jan. 2:
National Hall of Fame Salute at the Allstate Sugar Bowl – New Orleans
> Jan. 6:
VIZIO BCS National Championship Game – Pasadena, Calif.
> Jan. 7:
MacArthur Bowl Presentation to the BCS National Champion – Newport Beach, Calif.
A special thanks to Steve Richardson, the former sports journalist with the Dallas Morning News and the current executive director of the Football Writers Association of America, who wrote the Hall of Fame bios in this issue of the Footballetter. An accomplished author, Richardson’s latest
book, “100 Things to Do in Dallas-Fort Worth Before You Die” will be released in February 2014.
The photos of Hall of Famers and in the story by Dan Jenkins were obtained from their respective universities. The photo rights are reserved by
their respective owners.
2
October 2013
hall of Fame inductees
> Class of 2013
Ted BrOwn
Tedy BruSchi
rOn dayne
T
welve All-America players and two legendary coaches will take their places in the College
Football Hall of Fame alongside the greatest of all time. Of the 4.99 million
individuals who have played college football since Princeton first battled Rutgers on
Nov. 6, 1869, only 1,139 champions of the gridiron (934 players and 205 coaches,
including this year’s class) have earned the right to be immortalized in the sport’s ultimate shrine.
In other words, only two ten-thousandths of one percent (.0002) of those who have played the
game have earned this distinction.
Jerry Gray
TOmmie Frazier
1
STeve meilinGer
william v. camPBell TrOPhy winner
dOak walker award winner
OuTland TrOPhy award winner
BuTkuS award winner
2
OrlandO Pace
3
heiSman TrOPhy winnerS
maxwell award winnerS
walTer camP Player OF The
year winnerS
davey O'Brien award winnerS
rOTary lOmBardi award winnerS
JOhnny uniTaS GOlden arm award winnerS
nFF naTiOnal SchOlar-aThleTeS
4
October 2013
hall of fame inductees
> Class of 2013
2013 inducteeS
Players
Rod Shoate
> Ted Brown – TB, North Carolina State (1975-78)
> Tedy Bruschi – DE, Arizona (1992-95)
> Ron Dayne – RB, Wisconsin (1996-99)
> Tommie Frazier – QB, Nebraska (1992-95)
> Jerry Gray – DB, Texas (1981-84)
> Steve Meilinger – E, Kentucky (1951-53)
> Orlando Pace – OT, Ohio State (1994-96)
> Rod Shoate (deceased) – LB, Oklahoma (1972-74)
> Percy Snow – LB, Michigan State (1986-89)
> Vinny Testaverde – QB, Miami, Fla. (1982, 1984-86)
> Don Trull – QB, Baylor (1961-63)
> Danny Wuerffel – QB, Florida (1993-96)
Bill MccaRtney
CoaChes
> Wayne Hardin – 118-74-5 (61.2%); Navy (1959-64) and
Temple (1970-82)
wayne haRdin
> Bill McCartney – 93-55-5 (62.4%); Colorado (1982-94)
PeRcy Snow
4
Vinny teStaVeRde
don tRull
7
MeMBeRS of national
chaMPionShiP teaMS
6
danny wueRffel
unaniMouS fiRSt-teaM all-aMeRicanS
conSenSuS fiRSt-teaM all-aMeRicanS
Multi-yeaR fiRSt-teaM all-aMeRicanS
confeRence PlayeR of the yeaR honoReeS
MeMBeRS of confeRence chaMPionShiP teaMS
winneRS of college footBall MajoR awaRdS
5
October 2013
Congratulations!
Congratulations to the 2013 inductees into the National Football
Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame.
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9Ê- "7Ê— Michigan State University
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9Ê71,Ê— University of Florida
Ê79 Ê, Ê— United States Naval Academy and
Temple University
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Call 866.715.6111 or visit
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Hall of Fame Class of 2013
TED
BROWN
Tailback
North Carolina State
1975-78
T
ed Brown, growing up in High Point, N.C.,
always had to battle the perception he was a
little too small at 5-8, 175 pounds to make it
in big-time college football. His only chance
to go to a major school was offered by North
Carolina State Coach Lou Holtz.
“He said, ‘First of all I don’t like freshmen,’” Brown recalled of the recruiting encounter nearly four decades ago.
“I thought that was kind of bad. But what he did say is, ‘I
will give you the opportunity to play.’ That was all I was
looking for was a chance to play. And I knew if he gave me
a chance to play, I knew I would prove all the naysayers
wrong.”
It didn’t take long for Holtz, in his last season in Raleigh,
to discover he had one of the most durable and consistent
running backs in Atlantic Coast Conference history. While
the varsity lost at Michigan State, 37-15, Brown, just a
freshman, was running wild in the junior varsity’s lopsided
win against Chowan College (N.C.).
So Holtz inserted him on the varsity team in the fifth
game of the 1975 season against Indiana. The end result
was a 27-0 Wolfpack victory in which Brown gained 121
yards on 17 carries. “And from that point forward, I was
in the starting lineup,” Brown said. He rushed for more
than 100 yards in five more games that season, including
227 yards in a 45-7 victory at Clemson. Holtz left to become coach of the New York Jets after that 7-4-1 season,
and he was replaced by Bo Rein. Brown still plowed up the
ACC for three more years with his low-to-the ground, slippery running style.
“Basically, I would give a little bit when I was going to
get hit,” said Brown, who still owns the ACC career rushing yards (4,602) and career rushing touchdown (51)
records, and holds the conference mark for most 100-yard
rushing games (27). “Usually they (defenders) were going
to expect force on force. So when they got ready to go for
the hit, I am backing away and they would actually go
down on the ground. It was a little technique I picked up
by watching Larry Brown play for the Washington Redskins.”
Brown left a legacy of running that four decades later remains unparalleled in North Carolina State history. Entering the 2013 season, he still owns school records for
single-game rushing yards (251), single-season rushing
(1,350 yards), career rushing, career rushing attempts (860) and career scoring
(312).
After being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1979
NFL Draft, he played eight seasons for the Vikings and rushed for 4,546 yards and
53 scores. He currently works as a juvenile probation officer in the Ramsey County
(Minn.) courts system. He has a son, J.T., who is a top prospect in the Tampa Bay
Lightning hockey organization.
TED BROWN: Up ClOsE
> Only four-time All-ACC first-team selection in history.
> Helped lead NC State to three bowl games.
> NC State retired his No. 23 jersey before his final home game against Duke in 1978.
> Fifth Wolfpack player inducted into College Football Hall of Fame, second in four years.
7
October 2013
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TEDY
BRUSCHI
Defensive End
Arizona
1992-95
T
edy Bruschi didn’t play organized football
until his freshman year of high school. And
even then, he had to be encouraged by a couple of friends who coaxed him to go out for
the team.
“I sat next to them at freshmen orientation,” Bruschi recalled. “And I looked down by their feet, and they had
cleats and a cooler. And I asked, ‘What are those for? And
they said, ‘We are going to go try out for the football team.
You should come.’ So I went. And that is really how my
football career started.”
Eventually, Bruschi became a standout defensive end at
the University of Arizona and a member of Coach Dick
Tomey’s “Desert Swarm” defenses from 1992-95. The road
to stardom was sometimes awkward; he didn’t know which
position to play at the first high school practice.
“‘Where do you want me to go?’” Bruschi asked the
freshman head coach. “And he looked me up and down
and said, ‘Go with the linemen.’ And that’s where I went.
I played defensive tackle and offensive guard and thank
goodness he didn’t say quarterback. It worked out pretty
well.”
The future Pro-Bowler for the New England Patriots
and winner of three Super Bowl rings actually played the
saxophone in the band at Roseville High School (Calif.)
early in his prep career.
“I would play in the freshman-sophomore football
games and then change into my band uniform and play in
the marching band for the varsity games,” Bruschi said.
“That was really who I was. My mother wanted me to have
music in my life. I had to do a quick change, didn’t shower.
…I can do the heel-toe, left-right and all that still.”
By his sophomore season at Arizona, Bruschi established
himself as a star when he recorded 19 sacks. By the time
he was finished, he had tied an NCAA record with 52 career sacks in the “Desert Swarm” defense, which led the
country in rushing defense in 1993. That season Arizona
wound up beating Miami (Fla.), 29-0, in the Fiesta Bowl
where Bruschi was named the MVP on defense.
“We all had a similar attitude on the Desert Swarm defenses I was part of,” Bruschi said. “None of us were highly
recruited. They called my recruiting class one of the worst
Arizona has ever had. We really had a chip on our shoulders. We always wanted to go out there and prove people
wrong.”
Drafted in the third round by the New England Patriots in 1996, he played 13
seasons for the same club. He was the Associated Press’ Comeback Player of the
Year in 2005 after suffering a stroke. He founded Tedy’s Team in conjunction with
the American Stroke Association, which has raised $1.5 million for stroke research.
Bruschi currently is a pro football analyst on ESPN and resides in the Boston
area with his wife and three boys, who, by the way, all play musical instruments.
TEDY BRUSCHI: Up CloSE
> Consensus All-American in 1994; unanimous All-American in 1995
> 1995 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year.
> Helped lead Arizona to three bowl games.
> Fourth Arizona player selected to the College Football Hall of Fame, third in last five years.
9
October 2013
RON
DAYNE
Running Back
Wisconsin
1996-99
R
on Dayne’s bruising running style left Big Ten
Conference defenses weary during a four-yearperiod from 1996-99. To top it all off, during
his senior season, Dayne smashed Ricky
Williams’ career Football Bowl Subdivision
rushing record, just a year after the Texas running back set
it.
“This guy happened to be our offense for four years,” said
Wisconsin Athletics Director Barry Alvarez, a Hall of Famer
who was the Badgers’ head coach when Dayne played at
Wisconsin.
In 1996, the 5-10, 270-pound Dayne didn’t waste time
when he arrived in Madison, setting a then-freshman record
in the FBS with 1,863 yards during the regular season. He
added 246 rushing yards in Wisconsin’s 38-10 victory in the
Copper Bowl, earning MVP honors.
Dayne, the Badgers’ eighth player to be elected to the Hall
of Fame, was a model of consistency, averaging 148.8 yards
rushing a game and 5.48 yards a carry. When he left Wisconsin, Dayne held 48 Badger records.
“There are a lot of guys who have played this game and
no one did what he did,” Alvarez added of Dayne’s 6,397
rushing yards, which still places him as the NCAA FBS
career yardage leader entering the 2013 season. “He was
durable…There was a stretch when he was a true freshman,
an 18-year-old freshman, he carried the ball (30 or more
times in five of six games).”
Dayne, a star shot putter and discus thrower out of Berlin,
New Jersey, was recruited by several schools, but most teams
wanted him to be a fullback. Alvarez, who Dayne says was
like a father to him, gave him a chance to reach for his
dreams.
“I just wanted to be a great running back,” Dayne said.
“Everybody had me down as a fullback. Now, I can say I’m
one of the great running backs. Coach took the ‘fullback’
out of my repertoire. He helped me out of that.”
Dayne broke the FBS rushing record (excludes bowl
games) during the final game of his senior season on a 31yard run against Iowa. Throw in his bowl rushing yardage,
and Dayne rushed for 7,125 yards.
“If the rules back then were the same as they are now, with
bowl games counting toward his rushing total, no one would
even come close to touching his record,” Alvarez said. “We’ve
had a lot of great players come through here, but when people think of Wisconsin
football, they think of Ron Dayne running the football.”
After Wisconsin averaged 9.3 wins his four seasons and won two Rose Bowls and
two Big Ten titles in 1998 and 1999, Dayne went on to a seven-year NFL career
with the New York Giants, Denver and Houston. He was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame two years later.
He is a volunteer in numerous events which benefit children or children’s groups in
the Madison area.
RON DAYNE: Up ClOsE
> One of four players to be named MVP of the Rose Bowl twice.
> The Big Ten’s first and only three-time rushing champion.
> Claimed Heisman, Maxwell, Walter Camp and Doak Walker awards as a senior.
> Becomes the Badgers’ eighth player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
11
October 2013
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TOMMIE
FRAZIER
Quarterback
Nebraska
1992-95
T
ommie Frazier, the first Cornhusker quarterback
to be named to the College Football Hall of Fame,
remembers his days as the Cornhuskers’ spectacular option quarterback in a peculiar way. He recalls
his three losses — one to Iowa State during the regular season and two to Florida State in bowl games — more than
his 33 victories during a career that resulted in national championships in 1994 and 1995.
“Those (losses) are the ones you always look at yourself and
say, ‘What could I have done more in those games?’” said Frazier,
who started 36 games from 1992-95. “I look at the losses more
so than all the wins because there were so many wins here. It’s
the losses that eat me up.”
Frazier, from Bradenton, Fla., was the first true freshman to
start at quarterback for Nebraska. He grabbed the quarterback
reins midway through the 1992 season and eventually accounted
for 5,476 yards of total offense and 79 touchdowns during Nebraska’s four-year reign as Big Eight Conference champions.
“Tommy was better prepared to start as a freshman than any
quarterback we had,” said Hall of Famer Tom Osborne, Frazier’s
coach at Nebraska. “That’s not easy to do, but he was unusually
mature and competitive. He had played at a high level in front
of big crowds in high school, so going out and playing in a
major-college game was not intimidating to him.”
Frazier’s career at Nebraska was interrupted by injury. During
his junior season in 1994, he was diagnosed with a blood clot in
his leg, and he missed seven games before returning and leading
the Cornhuskers to a perfect season. It was capped by a 24-17
come-from-behind victory over Miami (Fla.) in the Orange Bowl
in which Frazier was named an MVP.
“There was nothing that was going to stop me, because I was
determined to get back on the field,” Frazier said. “The only
thing that was going to keep me off the field was me losing my
leg.”
Playing behind the “Pipeline,” Nebraska’s big offensive line,
and with an array of talented running backs and receivers at his
disposal, Frazier could keep defenses guessing. And when he kept
the ball, he was elusive, as demonstrated in his final game, a 6224 rout of Florida in the national championship game on Jan.
1, 1996, at the Fiesta Bowl. He rushed 16 times for 199 yards,
with a spectacular 75-yard touchdown run, his signature play.
“People always talk about the run, but my favorite play is the
Colorado game my senior year when I was about to be sacked,”
Frazier recalled of a 44-21 victory, “and I was able to stay up and get the ball to Ahman
Green. I think it was on third down to keep the drive going. So that showed what my
game was all about. One guy is not going to bring me down.”
Frazier later played for the Montreal Allouettes of the Canadian Football League
and coached at Baylor and Nebraska before becoming the 32nd head coach at Doane
College (Neb.). His jersey was retired by Nebraska in 1996, the same year he was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame. He currently lives in Omaha and
works for a healthcare foundation.
TOMMIE FRAZIER: Up ClOsE
> Led Nebraska to unbeaten conference records for three straight seasons (1993-95) and
national championships in 1994 and 1995.
> 1995 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award recipient.
> MVP in three bowl games.
> Becomes the 16th Nebraska player to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
13
October 2013
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JERRY
GRAY
Defensive Back
Texas
1981-84
I
n 1981, Jerry Gray came out of Lubbock, Texas, to star
at the University of Texas, establishing a strong work
ethic, flamboyant style and spectacular results in the
Longhorns’ defensive backfield.
In the early 1980s, Texas was producing defensive
backs for the NFL on an assembly line. From 1981-84, eight
defensive backs from Texas were drafted to play in the NFL.
But Gray is the only defensive back in the College Football
Hall of Fame from those years.
“You go out there just to play the game,” Gray said. “And
you are very humbled when you have a chance to go into the
College Football Hall of Fame. When you look back on it,
you are one of the best guys who played in college football at
that time.”
Gray was on some really good football teams at Texas. In
1981, the Longhorns finished No. 2 in the Associated Press
poll with a 10-1-1 record. In 1983, UT won the Southwest
Conference title and came within a couple of points of possibly winning the national championship, as the previously unbeaten Longhorns fell to Georgia, 10-9, in the Cotton Bowl.
“Jerry was like another coach out there on the field,” said
his Texas coach Fred Akers. “He was just a tremendously talented player. He played cornerback as well as safety. He
wanted to know everything. It wasn’t enough to know just
what his position was or even all the secondary; he wanted to
know what the linebackers’ responsibilities were. And that’s a
big reason he is a defensive coordinator in the NFL.”
One of Gray’s most memorable moments came during the
1984 season when he caught Auburn’s Bo Jackson from behind during a 35-27 UT victory in Austin. Jackson suffered a
separated shoulder on the play that basically ended his junior
season.
“I over ran the play, and he cut back,” Gray said. “I made
a mistake. I had to correct that mistake because I didn’t think
anybody else was going to catch him. That was the kind of
play that stuck out in Austin, and everybody got to see it live
because Bo Jackson had never gotten caught from behind.”
Selected in the first round (21st overall pick) of the 1985
NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams, Gray played for the
Rams for seven seasons before finishing his playing career with
one-year stints with Houston (1992) and Tampa Bay (1993).
While with the Rams, he went to the Pro Bowl four times
(1986-89).
Gray’s first coaching stop was in 1995 as a defensive backs
coach at Southern Methodist. He then moved on to the NFL and has had assistant
coaching stints with Seattle, Washington, Buffalo and the Tennessee Titans, where he
is currently defensive coordinator.
A member of the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame and Longhorn Hall of
Honor, Gray has established the Jerry Gray Foundation, which provides athletic and
academic scholarships to underprivileged youth. One of Gray’s two sons, Jeremy, is a
senior defensive back on the 2013 SMU football team.
JERRY GRAY: Up ClosE
> Southwest Conference Player of the Year in 1983 and 1984.
> Consensus All-American in 1983; unanimous All-American in 1984.
> Member of four bowl teams at Texas.
> Seventeenth player from Texas to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
15
October 2013
STEVE
MEILINGER
End
Kentucky
1951-53
S
ixty years after he last played college football for
Kentucky, Steve Meilinger is reliving the Wildcats’
football glory days because of his induction into the
College Football Hall of Fame.
Meilinger, who turns 83 two days after the 2013
NFF Awards Dinner, will join two of his former Kentucky
teammates in the Hall of Fame — quarterback Vito “Babe”
Parilli and lineman Bob Gain — and his old coach Bear
Bryant, who guided the Wildcats from 1946-53.
Meilinger remembers Bryant’s preseason training camps
well. They were as tough at Kentucky as they would be at
Texas A&M a few years later.
“I went through three of them,” Meilinger said. “My freshman year, there were 108 freshmen. And these guys all started
leaving in the middle of the night. In my senior year, there
were six of us left out of 108. Everybody else quit or was run
off by Bear Bryant or his staff.”
During Meilinger’s career, the Wildcats finished ranked in
the top 20 in both major wire-service polls all three of his
varsity seasons. He played in the Cotton Bowl following the
1951 season in Kentucky’s 20-7 victory over TCU.
During that season Meilinger was Parilli’s go-to receiver
when he caught a then-school record 41 passes for 576 yards
and eight touchdowns. Meilinger, then a sophomore, said
Parilli, a senior quarterback, helped him get the publicity to
become an All-American the following two seasons.
Nicknamed “Mr. Anywhere,” Meilinger was similar to
SMU’s Doak Walker because of his versatility. He set Kentucky career records at the time for pass receptions, receiving
yards and touchdowns. He also played halfback, quarterback,
defensive back, punted and returned kicks and punts. He
could do it all — almost.
During Meilinger’s junior year when he was the starting
quarterback in the new Split-T that Bryant had installed, as
a gag, the Kentucky band at halftime of the Tulane game
suited up a player in Meilinger’s No. 80 football uniform
playing a trombone. It wasn’t really Meilinger, but his father,
who was sitting in the stands, believed it was.
Selected eighth in the first round of the 1954 NFL Draft
by the Washington Redskins, Meilinger spent two years in
the service before embarking on a six-year pro football career.
After starting with the Redskins, he played for a three-year
stint with the Green Bay Packers (1958-60), two under
Coach Vince Lombardi. He also played in six exhibition games for the Dallas Cowboys’ Tom Landry in 1961 before being traded to Pittsburgh.
“I don’t believe too many people can say they have played for those three coaches,”
Meilinger said of the group that also included Bryant.
Following football, Meilinger became one of the original six U.S. Marshals in the
U.S. Federal Witness Protection Program, and he eventually became Chief Deputy
of the Eastern District of Kentucky. Still living in Lexington, he and his wife Eileen
are season ticket holders for Kentucky football games.
STEVE MEILINGER: Up CLoSE
> Kentucky’s first three-year, first-team All-SEC football selection.
> Led Kentucky to Cotton Bowl win over TCU.
> Chosen to the 100th Year of Kentucky Football Team in 1990 by two newspapers.
> Fourth Kentucky player to be named to the College Football Hall of Fame and first since 1992.
16
October 2013
ORLANDO
PACE
Offensive Tackle
Ohio State
1994-96
O
rlando Pace was just about as consistently
brilliant as a football player could be during his college days in Columbus. From
the first day he trotted on campus for
preseason camp in 1994 until the day he
decided he would bypass his senior season for the National Football League, he held down a starting position
on the Buckeyes’ offensive line.
“I don’t know how you could play the position any
better than he did,” said John Cooper, Pace’s coach at
Ohio State and a Hall of Famer in his own right.
Hailing from Sandusky, Ohio, the 6-6, 330-pound
Pace started all 38 games in which he played for Ohio
State. That was after he was persuaded to play offense at
Ohio State, which was lacking offensive linemen at the
time.
Among those Pace blocked for was Hall of Famer
Eddie George, a Heisman Trophy winner in 1995, who
set Ohio State records for most rushing yards in a game
and season. “All five guys (on the line) took pride in it,
like it was our Heisman,” Pace said of his sophomore season. “We helped do that.”
During his sophomore and junior seasons, Pace didn’t
allow a sack. In 1996, he had become the most dominant
offensive lineman in college football when he made a reported 80 “pancake” blocks (a feat of knocking a defender
on his back).
Ohio State distributed Orlando Pace “pancake” magnets as a Heisman Trophy promotion. Although Pace did
not win the Heisman Trophy that season, he finished
fourth in the balloting and registered the highest Heisman Trophy finish by an offensive lineman since another
Ohio State offensive tackle, John Hicks, was second in
1973.
“He did just about everything a lineman could do,”
said the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, Ohio
State’s Archie Griffin. “And he won just about every
award an offensive lineman can win.”
In 1996, Pace led the Buckeyes to a share of the Big
Ten title when he won the Outland and became the first
and still only player to claim back-to-back Lombardi Trophies.
“Orlando Pace is not only the best lineman I have ever
coached, he is the best I have ever seen,” Cooper added.
“Every game was a highlight reel for him. We ran a lot of counter sweeps and a lot of
screens, and on many of those plays Orlando had to be out in front of the ball carrier.
And we had some pretty good ball carriers.”
Selected as the No. 1 overall pick by the St. Louis Rams in the 1997 Draft, Pace
went on to a 13-year career (all but one year with the Rams) and played in seven Pro
Bowls. He was a member of the Super Bowl XXXIV champion Rams. Retired from
football, he’s the current owner of a sports bar in Sandusky.
ORLANDO PACE: UP CLOsE
> Starting player in all 38 games.
> Only second true freshman to start on opening day for the Buckeyes.
> Claimed the 1996 Outland Trophy, given to the best interior lineman in college football.
> Becomes the 24th Buckeye player to be named to the College Football Hall of Fame.
17
October 2013
ROD
SHOATE
Linebacker
Oklahoma
1972-74
T
he late Rod Shoate was a dominant linebacker
for the Oklahoma Sooners during an era where
preeminent football players were plentiful in
Norman. Shoate roamed from sideline to sideline, making tackles from 1972-74 when the
Sooners posted a dazzling 32-1-1 record, won or shared three
Big Eight titles, and ranked no lower than third in the country at the end of any of those three seasons.
“I think one of the most memorable things was Rod’s
speed and recognition at linebacker,” said OU Hall of Fame
running back Joe Washington, a teammate of Shoate’s.
“When he came along, he was a real good athlete with speed.
Then Lawrence Taylor and Brian Bosworth followed. He was
a trend setter at linebacker, especially in college football. And
he was a good guy, no ifs and buts about it.”
Shoate, who wore No. 43, came from tiny Spiro, Okla.,
in the east central part of the state on the Arkansas border.
He was a running back in high school, but converted to linebacker when he arrived at OU.
Shoate led the Sooners in tackles each of his three seasons,
including 155 tackles his senior season. His 420 career tackles
still rank sixth at Oklahoma, where he is one of only two
Sooner players to garner All-America honors in three seasons
(second-team in 1972).
His best game quite possibly came in his senior season
(1974) when the second-ranked Sooners were playing archrival Texas in Dallas. Shoate made 21 tackles, broke up two
passes, forced and recovered a fumble. With that great defensive effort, OU hung on for a 16-13 victory against the Longhorns, by far its closest game during a perfect 11-0 national
championship season.
“With the Selmons (linemen Lucious, Lee Roy and
Dewey) and Rod Shoate, very few backs could gain any
yardage against our defense,” Washington said. “With the
Selmons up front, the only place to go was laterally and he
(Shoate) had the speed to chase any back down. I felt sorry
for Earl Campbell and all the Texas backs on that day.”
Selected in the second round of the 1975 NFL Draft
(41st overall) by the New England Patriots, Shoate played
in six seasons with that franchise and part of that time for
Chuck Fairbanks, who was his coach at Oklahoma during
the early part of his college career. Shoate later played in the
United States Football League and again for Fairbanks with
the New Jersey Generals one season.
Shoate passed away in 1999 at the age of 46. Fourteen years later he is the 20th
Sooner football player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. His induction and life will be celebrated by the entire Sooner family in New York City at
the Waldorf.
“Rod Shoate was an incredible football player,” said Oklahoma athletic director
Joe Castiglione. “He was a very beloved teammate.”
ROD SHOATE: Up ClOSE
> Twice named Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year (1973, 1974).
> Two-time first-team All-America; consensus in 1973, unanimous in 1974.
> Opponents averaged just 8.7 points a game against OU from 1972-74.
> The 20th Sooner player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
18
October 2013
PERCY
SNOW
Linebacker
Michigan State
1986-89
P
ercy Snow established a legacy at Michigan State
as one of the best linebackers in Big Ten Conference history. Big, brooding, dominating, the 6foot-2, 244-pound Snow could take over the
game defensively and make the opponent feel it.
“Percy Snow is certainly deserving of this honor,” said
George Perles, his coach at Michigan State. “Offenses simply dreaded playing against him because he didn’t just
make the tackle; he damaged people. Percy was the hardest-hitting kid who played at Michigan State in many,
many years. He was the nucleus of those great defensive
units in the late 1980s.”
From Snow’s sophomore year in 1987 through his senior
season in 1989, Michigan State led the Big Ten in rushing
defense each year. The Spartans gave up only 69.8 yards
rushing per game in Snow’s sophomore season and opponents scored just 12.8 points a game. Opponents didn’t do
much better in either his junior or senior seasons when they
averaged only 14.8 points (118.4 rushing yards) and 13.6
points (95.4 rushing yards) a game.
“This is the highest individual honor, but it certainly
isn’t something I could have accomplished alone,” Snow
said of being named to the College Football Hall of Fame.
“This is the result of teamwork. My teammates and coaches
all played a vital role. I am both humble and grateful for
this recognition.”
Recruited out of Canton, Ohio, Snow became a star his
sophomore season in 1987 when he started all 12 games
and played more minutes (320 ½ ) than any other defensive
player on the Big Ten champion Michigan State team. The
Spartans were No. 1 in Big Ten play in rushing defense,
total defense and scoring defense in 1987. His centerpiece
game was a 17-tackle (15 unassisted) performance in Michigan State’s 20-17 victory over USC in the Rose Bowl. Snow
picked up MVP honors after the victory.
“After we won and came home, and we were greeted at
the airport with the fans and the support, I think that right
there was it for me,” Snow said. “That was the benchmark
acceptance.”
As a junior, No. 48 was an even more relentless tackling
machine. Collecting 164 tackles, then a school record, Snow
was named a first team All-American by The Sporting News.
Snow topped off his college career with a banner senior season in which he was a consensus All-American and became
the first player in history to sweep the Butkus (top linebacker) and Lombardi (best
lineman) awards. He still is one of only four players to do so. As a senior, he broke
his own Michigan State record with 172 tackles (now ranks second in school history).
Drafted in the first round by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1990, Snow played a total
of 40 games combined from 1990-93 for the Chiefs and Chicago Bears. In 2010,
he was inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.
PERCY SNOW: UP ClOSE
> Still ranks second at Michigan State entering the 2013 season with 473 career tackles.
> Named to school’s Centennial Super Squad by The Lansing State Journal.
> Three-time first-team All-Big Ten.
> Becomes the seventh Michigan State player selected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
19
October 2013
VINNY
TESTAVERDE
Quarterback
Miami
1982, 1984-86
V
inny Testaverde was part of one of the greatest quarterback logjams in the history of college football. In 1982, long before the
University of Miami Hurricanes became
know as “The U,” Miami had quarterbacks
Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Mark Richt and Testaverde on the
roster.
Testaverde, the same age as Kosar, wouldn’t get his shot
at starting at Miami until 1985 as a junior. But two seasons
were enough time for him to register a Heisman Trophy
season that served as a launching pad for a 21-year NFL
career with seven different teams.
“Jim was the starter when I got there as a freshman,” Testaverde recalled to Pat O’Brien on Fox Sports Radio. “And
then Bernie had won the starting job in 1983. So I am sitting there thinking about transferring to go to another
school and have a chance to play somewhere. Bernie actually graduated earlier, but prior to him doing all that he let
me know he was going to leave school earlier and enter the
supplemental draft, and that’s what made me stay at
Miami.”
After redshirting in 1983 when Miami won the national
title, Testaverde was a backup to Kosar in 1984. Then,
when he assumed the starting quarterback role during the
1985 and 1986 seasons, Miami fashioned a 23-3 record
and played in two New Year’s Day bowls. By the time he
was finished, Testaverde had passed for 6,058 yards and 48
scores, mostly under Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson
from 1984-86.
“I can remember Vinny losing his first start against
Florida (in 1985) and the devastation that he felt,” Johnson
wrote in his NFF nomination letter of Testaverde. “He
used that loss as motivation and never allowed his teammates to taste defeat in another regular season game. He
was the leader on the Miami team that launched the 58game home winning streak at the Orange Bowl.”
Testaverde’s senior season in 1986 was particularly outstanding when he claimed the Heisman Trophy, Walter
Camp, Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards. During that
season, Miami upset top-ranked Oklahoma 28-16 at the
Orange Bowl to become No. 1 and remained there through
an unbeaten regular season before falling to Penn State, 1410, in the Fiesta Bowl.
The next spring, Tampa Bay selected Testaverde as the first overall pick of the
1987 NFL Draft. He finished his pro career with 46,233 yards passing and 275
touchdowns, both among the top eight on the NFL career charts at the time of his
retirement.
“I was blessed to coach quite a few quarterbacks people remember,” wrote former
Hurricanes coach Howard Schnellenberger, who recruited and coached Testaverde
early on at Miami. “I honestly believe that Vinny was the best all-around quarterback
among them, and I don’t think any of the others would be mad at me for saying so.”
VINNY TESTAVERDE: Up CloSE
> Claimed the 1986 Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp, Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards.
> Completed 61.3 percent of his passes during his college career.
> A member of the Iron Arrow Honor Society, which is the highest academic honor at the school.
> Becomes the sixth Miami player to be elected into the College Football Hall of Fame and one of
only four Hurricanes to have their jersey retired.
20
October 2013
DON
TRULL
Quarterback
Baylor
1961-63
D
on Trull was a standout passer in college football during the early 1960s when most offenses were far less sophisticated than today.
Thanks to his head coach John Bridgers, who
came to Waco after a stint as an assistant
coach with the Baltimore Colts, Trull became a passing sensation in the Southwest Conference.
“We put in the basic Baltimore Colts’ offense: flanker, split
end, and a split backfield with a few variations,” Trull said of
the pro-style offense. “And we threw the football and used an
audible system, probably, I would venture to say, more than
anybody else in college football ... I called my own plays.”
Trull, from Oklahoma City Southeast High School, received recruiting inquiries from Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. Tulsa, coached by Hall of Famer Glenn Dobbs,
pursued him hard. Trull wound up at Baylor when his
brother, a seminary student in Fort Worth, Texas, sent newspaper clippings of his high school games through a friend to
the Baylor football staff.
Trull took a visit to Waco and liked the campus. The fact
Bridgers was going to throw the ball sealed the deal. Trull’s
main receiving target by his junior season was Hall of Fame
receiver Lawrence Elkins, who led the country in receptions
in 1963.
“Besides having great hands, he probably was quick as any
receiver I ever threw to coming off the break, which is when
you plant your foot and are cutting out going to the post or
going to the corner,” Trull said. “He exploded off the break,
which separated him from the defensive back, which gave the
quarterback the opportunity to throw the ball at the time the
defensive back was the furthest away from him.”
By the time Trull was a senior, the Bears were challenging
powerhouse Texas for the Southwest Conference title. Baylor
had gone to the Gotham Bowl and beaten Utah State, 24-9,
when Trull was a sophomore. But now the Cotton Bowl was
a real possibility when Baylor headed to Austin for a November showdown against the Longhorns. Baylor lost a hardfought 7-0 contest to Texas and wound up going to the
Bluebonnet Bowl where the Bears beat LSU, 14-7.
“I meet people weekly who say I remember when you
played Texas for the championship,” Trull said. “They say, ‘I
was sitting right there in the end zone where you threw that
last pass (incompletion to Elkins).’ I have told somebody
many times, ‘If everybody who told me they were sitting
there, they really were at the game, there would have been 200,000 people there.’”
From 1964-71 Trull played for the Houston Oilers, Boston Patriots and Edmonton
Eskimos.
He was an assistant football coach at Arkansas for three seasons under Frank Broyles
before playing briefly in the World Football League. In the mid 1970s, he moved into
private business in the Houston area. Active in civic endeavors, he is vice chairman of
the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
DON TRULL: Up CLOse
> Baylor’s first NFF National Scholar-Athlete in 1963.
> Finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting his senior season.
> Led nation in passing yards during both his junior and senior seasons.
> Seventh Baylor player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
21
October 2013
DANNY
WUERFFEL
Quarterback
Florida
1993-96
Q
uarterback Danny Wuerffel knows
the first game he played for the
Florida Gators very well could have
been his last. During the second
game of the 1993 season, the Gators
were struggling at Kentucky. Inserted
into the game for a struggling Terry
Dean, Wuerffel, then a freshman, promptly threw an interception on his very first pass.
Coach Steve Spurrier yanked Wuerffel and put Dean
back into the game, but nothing seemed to work as the
Gators were on their way to a seven-interception game.
Later in the contest, Wuerffel threw two more interceptions, but his lasting impression to Florida fans: the drive
that he engineered to boost the Gators to a pulsating
24-20 victory.
“There was that moment ... for some reason I am not
sure why, he put me back in the game and we drove
down the field and I threw the game winner to Chris
Doering (28 yards with three seconds remaining),”
Wuerffel recalled. “That was a moment if he had picked
somebody else, somebody else might be here.”
Wuerffel went on to win the Heisman Trophy three
years later when he led the Gators to their first football
national championship following a 52-20 Sugar Bowl
victory over Florida State. He became the Gators’ second
Heisman Trophy winner following Spurrier, who had
claimed the award three decades earlier.
“The way he coached and the way he taught just
worked for my skill set and my mind,” Wuerffel said of
a career that resulted in 10,500 career yards and 33
records at Florida. “I was never the strongest arm, but
just the way it all worked out, it was a great fit for me.
Then the life lessons you learn. I will never forget Coach
Spurrier (saying): ‘You got to be flexible.’ He was never
cemented into any one thing. He would adjust.”
Wuerffel, who played six seasons in the NFL with
four different teams (New Orleans, Green Bay, Chicago,
Washington) is currently executive director of Atlantabased Desire Street Ministries, a faith-based organization that focuses on outreach in inner-city
neighborhoods.
In recent years, Wuerffel, now married with three
children, has battled Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder which affects the nervous
system and can cause paralysis.
“It has been a really, really hard two years, but I am very grateful I am about 9095 percent recovered,” Wuerffel said. “It impaired (my) ability to stand and walk, but
really for about a year and a half after that, my body began to work, but I just didn’t
have the energy.”
In 2005, the Gainesville All-Sports Association established the Wuerffel Trophy,
which honors an outstanding college football player for exemplary community service.
DANNY WUERFFEL: Up CLosE
> Twice named the SEC Player of the Year in 1995 and 1996.
> Florida posted a 45-6-1 mark and won four SEC titles during Wuerffel’s four-year career.
> Passed for a nation-high 39 touchdowns his senior season, claiming the 1996 Heisman Trophy.
> Becomes the first Hall of Famer in history to have also claimed the NFF’s coveted William V.
Campbell Trophy, given to the nation’s top scholar-football athlete.
22
October 2013
WAYNE
HARDIN
Head Coach
118-74-5
Navy (1959-1964)
Temple (1970-82)
W
ayne Hardin never had a head coaching job at a powerhouse program. But
he did have the advantage of the tutelage of a powerhouse coach, Amos
Alonzo Stagg, a College Football Hall
of Fame player and coach. Hardin played for Stagg during
his last coaching stop at the College of the Pacific in the
1940s.
Hardin learned that the forward pass was not a bad thing
to feature because Stagg tinkered with it way back in 1894.
He modernized Stagg’s offenses and recruited the same
solid-citizen players that his mentor did and molded them
into teams. Hardin let his talent play to its strengths and
won more than 61 percent of his games.
Coaching Navy’s only two Heisman Trophy winners,
running back Joe Bellino (1960) and quarterback Roger
Staubach (1963), Hardin led the Midshipmen to victories
over Army in five of six seasons and to the Orange Bowl
(1960 season) and Cotton Bowl (1963 season). Navy finished No. 2 in the country in 1963 behind Texas.
“Bellino was the best one-on-one I have ever seen bar
nobody who has ever played the game,” Hardin said. “So
we tried to put him in positions where we got him one-onone. And that wasn’t that difficult to do. Staubach, you
learned pretty quick he doesn’t know what he is going to
do. He just did what he anticipated and what he felt. And
he would see opportunities before anybody else would see
them. And he would take them.”
Hardin ranks fifth in victories all-time at Navy. At Temple, he still owns the record for coaching career victories
(80) and most years coached (13), and he has left a legacy
of being able to win at one of the toughest jobs in college
football.
After Hardin was named the Temple coach, he tried to
recruit a hot-shot local quarterback named Steve Joachim,
who opted to go to Penn State. Hardin told Joachim that
if things didn’t work out with the Nittany Lions to give
him call. Eventually, Joachim transferred to Temple and
passed his way to the Maxwell Trophy in 1973, a season in
which he led the country in total offense.
While recruiting Joachim, Hardin discovered an intriguing receiver on film, Randy Grossman, who later became a star tight end for the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
“All I saw on the film is this kid caught everything,” Hardin said. “He didn’t care
where the ball was, he caught it. He would catch it behind his back. He would catch
it over his head. He was unbelievable. That’s why I didn’t even talk to him. I said you
have my first scholarship at Temple. That same kid has four Super Bowl rings.”
Hardin, who earned 11 varsity letters in college, was inducted into the University
of the Pacific Hall of Fame in 1998. He still resides in the Philadelphia area.
WAYNE HARDIN: Up ClosE
> Posted a 3-3 record against Notre Dame while at Navy.
> Led Navy to Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl appearances.
> Led Temple to its highest ranking, No. 17 in the Associated Press, in 1979, and most victories
in a season (10).
> Becomes Navy’s 25th College Football Hall of Famer and Temple’s third.
23
October 2013
BILL
McCARTNEY
Head Coach
93-55-5
Colorado (1982-94)
W
hen Bill McCartney arrived as the University of Colorado football coach in
June 1982, the program was in disarray.
An NCAA probation and three years of
losing (7-26) had decimated Buffalo
football to the point where there were only 73 players on
scholarship, 22 below the allowable number.
“When they hired me, they had recruited a lot of junior
college players, so the program was under-stocked,” said McCartney, who had spent the previous six years as defensive coordinator on Bo Schembechler’s Michigan staff. “It was going
to take a rebuilding effort.”
The previous CU coach, Chuck Fairbanks, had learned
one thing before jumping to the New Jersey Generals of the
USFL. His advice to McCartney was to recruit Texas and Colorado high school players if he wanted to survive in Boulder.
“We didn’t have credibility to go into Texas or California
(yet),” McCartney said. “We hung our hat on the in-state kid.
We got 16 of them and it was easily the most players that had
ever been recruited (by Colorado in the state of Colorado),
even up to today, in one year. And they really provided the
foundation. So then we went out to California and Texas.”
McCartney’s first three teams in Boulder finished a combined 7-25-1, about the same as Fairbanks’ three teams. But
the Buffaloes finally turned the corner in 1985 and went to
bowls in all but one of McCartney’s last 10 seasons in Boulder. They won or shared three Big Eight titles and had a program that rivaled both Big Eight powers Nebraska and
Oklahoma.
“You know what bailed us out?” McCartney asked. “We
went to the Wishbone. The reason we did that was because
Oklahoma and Nebraska were both option teams. So we figured in order to compete with them we would learn to defend
the option. We would keep the football (control the clock),
play field position and stay in the game.”
Later, Colorado went to the I-Bone, recruited top-flightathletes and played in back-to-back national championship
games in the Orange Bowl after the 1989 and 1990 seasons,
losing to Notre Dame in the first one and then beating the
Fighting Irish in the second to claim CU’s first and only national football crown. The Buffaloes wound up No. 1 in the
Associated Press, NFF and FWAA polls while Georgia Tech was the coaches’ selection
as No. 1.
In that 1990 championship season, Colorado overcame a 1-1-1 start, the famous
fifth down play in a controversial victory at Missouri, and the toughest schedule in
the country. From 1988-92, the Buffaloes had a 25-game unbeaten streak in Big Eight
play (23-0-2).
McCartney retired from coaching following the 1994 season after Colorado finished
11-1, No. 3 in the country and beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. He founded
Promise Keepers, a men’s Christian ministry, while he was still head coach at Colorado
and is currently the President and CEO of the organization.
BILL MCCARTNEY: Up CLosE
> Unanimous National Coach of the Year in 1989.
> Led Colorado to its first and only national title in 1990.
> Coached four first-team Academic All-Americans, including 1992 Campbell Trophy winner
Jim Hansen.
> Member of State of Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, Orange Bowl Hall of Fame and University
of Colorado Hall of Fame.
24
October 2013
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Promoting the
GOOD IN THE GAME
• Educating and providing opportunities for the young people who play the game.
• Enshrining the greatest coaches and players in the College Football Hall of Fame, scheduled
to open in Atlanta in the fall of 2014.
• Distributing over $1.3 million to high school and college scholar-athletes, including the
prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments.
• Releasing the weekly Bowl Championship Series Standings.
• Presenting the prestigious MacArthur Bowl to the BCS National Champion.
• Bestowing the coveted William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, to the nation’s
top college football scholar-athlete.
• Recognizing the nation’s top student-athletes from all divisions in The NFF Hampshire
Honor Society.
• Energizing a nationwide network of 12,000 members and 121 chapters that collectively
stage more than 1,000 events, reaching more than 4,800 high schools and 450,000 young
football players each year.
• Engaging fans in a variety of activities that dramatize the history of the game, including
the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, On-Campus Salutes, and the National Hall of Fame Salute
at the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Archie
Manning
Steven J.
Hatchell
Clayton I.
Bennett
J. Murry
Bowden
George M.
Weiss
Chairman
President & CEO
Vice Chairman
Vice Chairman
Vice Chairman
“Building Leaders Through Football”
433 E. Las Colinas Blvd. • Suite 1130 • Irving, TX • 75039
For more information please visit
www.footballfoundation.org or call 1-800-486-1865.
@NFFNetwork
The 25 Greatest College Passing Plays
> > Top Moments in College Football
BY Dan Jenkins
There’s always one great pass play in every football game, whether it’s on a sandlot
or in a Poll Bowl, which, as we know, is more important than life or death. So call me
audacious, presumptuous, all such words as that, while I go about selecting the 25
pass plays that seem to have been the most significant and memorable in college football among the thousands that have been thrown, some hither, others yon.
Most of these selections have had an impact on the national scene, but a few were
chosen for their sheer theatrical quality. Some I witnessed from a press box with my
own eyes, and others caused me to spill the popcorn as I watched them occur live on
TV. Naturally I expect you to come up with one or two I’ve overlooked, plays that
obviously changed the course of Western Civilization. Meanwhile, you have these to
ponder:
1
Notre Dame end Knute Rockne scores a touchdown against Army on a pass from Fighting Irish QB Gus Dorais
in a 1913 game that many historians credit with modifying the game and establishing the forward pass.
1. Nov. 1, 1913 — West Point, N.Y. — Notre Dame 35, Army 13
Notre Dame’s pine-knot quarterback Gus Dorais sent a 25-yard touchdown pass
to his end Knute Rockne, and Army’s defense was what you call stunned. It was the
first score in this initial meeting between the Irish and Cadets, which was also a battle
of undefeated teams. The game was tight for three quarters, but Dorais kept tossing
and that was that. Some historians call it “The Birth of the Modern Passing Game.”
2. Jan. 1, 1921 — Rose Bowl — California 28, Ohio State 0
Only a sophomore in this game, Cal’s Brick Muller, on his way to becoming a
three-time All-America end, took a lateral from halfback Pesky Sprott, and hurled a
50-yard missile to the other end, Brodie Stephens, for the Golden Bears’ second touchdown in what became a runaway. For a spell, it was considered the longest completed
pass in college football history.
2
Cal end Brick Muller threw a pass, which stood for many years as the longest in history.
3. Jan. 1, 1926 — Rose Bowl — Alabama 20, Washington 19
They say it was the day The South Rose Again — at least in college football. Down
12-0 at the half against heavily favored Washington, the Crimson Tide behind quarterback Pooley Hubert and the fleet Johnny Mack Brown, soon to become a movie
star, put all their points on the board in the third quarter, then settled in to hold off
the Huskies. The Tide’s third and decisive touchdown came on a 40-yard pass from
Hubert to Brown, who flew past the Huskies’ secondary and caught it under the goal
posts. It was Johnny Mack’s second TD catch of the day.
3
Crimson Tide quarterback Pooley Hubert (pictured here with the ball) connected with Johnny Mack Brown
on a 40-yard pass for a decisive touchdown in the 1926 Rose Bowl.
4. Oct. 20, 1934 — Pittsburgh, Pa. — Minnesota 13, Pitt 7
It was only a 17-yard pass, but it happened in one of those “Game of the Century”
things, and it decided at least a share of the national championship. Late in the day
with the score tied, the snap went to Minnesota fullback Stan Kostka, who lateraled
to quarterback Glenn Seidel, who lateraled to the All-America halfback Francis (Pug)
Lund, whereupon Lund found end Bob Tenner wide open at the 10. Tenner caught
the pass and trotted into the end zone. In a bruising game in which 10 All-Americans
were on the field — five on each side — that one trick play was all that separated the
two teams the rest of the season.
4
All-American halfback Pug Lund made the decisive pass on a trick play in the 1934 "Game of the Century"
to give the Gophers the win.
26
October 2013
5. Nov. 17, 1934 — Princeton, N.J. — Yale 7, Princeton 0
Princeton was your basic juggernaut from ’33-’35, winning 25 games and losing
only one — this one. It remains one of college football’s biggest upsets. Yale had already
lost three games and Princeton was being rumored for a Rose Bowl bid. It actually occurred because of a bad snap on an attempted punt.
In the first quarter, Yale quarterback Jerry Roscoe retrieved the ball and still hoped
to get a punt away from behind Princeton’s 45-yard line, but he suddenly stopped
when he saw sophomore end Larry Kelley open at the 25. He zipped a pass. Kelley
leaped and one-handed the ball, jerked away from a tackler, and outran two others to
score on a play that covered 49 yards. Kelley would become the second Heisman Trophy winner in ’36, a year in which he modestly said, “There can’t be an All-America
team without me on it.”
5
Yale legend Larry Kelley makes a one-hand grab and scores on a 49-yard play that gave the Bulldogs a 7-0
upset victory over Princeton.
6. Jan. 1, 1935 — Rose Bowl — Alabama 29, Stanford 13
Dixie Howell to Don Hutson. One of the great passing combos. They wound up
their Alabama careers pitching and catching in Pasadena. Their last completion went
for 59 yards and the touchdown that put the game on ice for good. Grantland Rice
wrote: “Dixie Howell today gave you the impression of a Dizzy Dean throwing strikes.”
7. Nov. 2, 1935 — Columbus, Ohio — Notre Dame 18, Ohio State 13
The Irish fought back from 13-0 in an early day “Game of the Century.” It was
13-12, Buckeyes, when Notre Dame got the ball after a fumble at midfield with 50
seconds remaining. Andy Pilney scooted 32 yards to the Ohio State 18, but he was
carried off the field with an injury. In came Bill Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s first pass
was almost intercepted — but dropped. Luck of the Irish. Now came the pass play.
The snap went to an upback. He pitched it back to Shakespeare. With only 30 seconds
left, Shakespeare retreated to the 30, dodged a tackler, and fired a spiral into the end
zone. At full speed end Wayne Millner reached up and grabbed the touchdown pass
with Ohio State’s Dick Beltz clinging to him. A comeback that couldn’t happen but
it did.
6
The pivotal Alabama touchdown play in the 1935 Rose Bowl featured a spectacular pass between future Hall
of Famers Dixie Howell and Don Hutson.
8. Nov. 30, 1935 — Fort Worth, Texas — SMU 20, TCU 14
A month later in the same season, another “Game of the Century.” SMU and
TCU were both undefeated, the Rose Bowl bid and national title were on the line,
and 40,000 were crammed into a TCU stadium that held only 30,000. Scribes like
Granny Rice and show biz celebs came from everywhere.
It was 14-14 with less than seven minutes to play when SMU’s Bob Finley on
fourth down faked a punt and heaved a 50-yard pass to All-American Bobby Wilson,
who was racing down the sideline with two Horned Frogs guarding him. Wilson went
skyward between them and made a circus catch at the 4-yard line and hopped into
the end zone for the SMU win.
7
The Notre Dame vs. Ohio State 1935 “Game of the Century” featured a miraculous pass (not pictured here)
by Notre Dame halfback Bill Shakespeare that found Wayne Millner in the end zone for the victory.
8
SMU All-American Bobby Wilson hugs the ball against TCU in the 1935 battle for a Rose Bowl bid and the
national championship. Photo provided by SMU Athletics.
27
October 2013
9. Jan. 2, 1939 — Sugar Bowl — TCU 15, Carnegie Tech 7
Davey O’Brien had succeeded Sam Baugh as TCU’s quarterback and kept the
passing raves coming. In the ’38 season, he carried the Frogs to an undefeated season,
led the nation in passing and total offense and won the Heisman. But when TCU
trailed “the Beast of the East” Carnegie Tech at halftime, 7-6, in the Sugar Bowl —
the first time the Frogs had trailed in a game all season — it was written that “strong
men in Stetsons wept and women went hysterical.”
Not for long, however. In the third quarter, Davey was chased back to his own 7
but hurled a 50-yard bomb to his wingback Earl Clark, and then from midfield fired
a 44-yard pass over the middle to end Durward Horner. Horner leaped and fingertipped it between two Tartan defenders, and dashed the rest of the way to the touchdown that put the Frogs on top to stay, thus confirming their No. 1 status.
10. Jan. 2, 1939 — Rose Bowl — Southern Cal 7, Duke 3
Duke was undefeated, untied, unscored on and No. 3 in the nation. USC was
8-2 and not given a chance. Perhaps if Trojan coach Howard Jones had stayed with
his regular lineup in the last minute of the game, things would have stayed that way.
But Jones went with a fourth-string quarterback, Doyle Nave, known only as a passer,
and a second-string sophomore end, Al Krueger, to pull off the upset.
Duke was ahead 3-0 as Nave connected with Krueger on four throws in the last
minute and a half from the Duke 39. The last pass went for 16 yards and the winning
touchdown as Krueger sneaked into the end zone behind Duke’s All-America fullback,
Eric Tipton. Durham, N.C., sold out of headache tablets.
9
Hall of Famer and TCU quarterback Davey O’Brien.
10
Trojan end Al Krueger pulls in the 1939 Rose Bowl winning touchdown pass.
11. Nov. 28, 1940 — Austin, Texas — Texas 7, Texas A&M 0
The Texas Aggies behind “Jarrin’ John Kimbrough, the Haskell Hurricane,” were
the defending national champions, riding a 19-game win streak and were already penciled in for the Rose Bowl invitation when they went to Austin for their final game
on this Thanksgiving Day. But in the game’s first 57 seconds they started suffering
one of the sport’s most painful upsets. Texas tailback Pete Layden completed two passes
in the Longhorns’ opening drive, the first to “Cowboy Jack Crain, the Nocona Jackrabbit” — nicknames were falling like leaves on Memorial Stadium — for 32 yards, and
next came the killer. It was a 33-yard spiral to wingback Noble Doss, who caught the
ball on a dead run with his back to it — like Willie Mays on a fly to center — and
toppled out of bounds at the A&M 1-yard line. Layden promptly barged in for the
score. The Aggies spent the rest of the day hammering at the Longhorn goal, but five
interceptions spoiled every drive. More than one headline said, “Longhorns Derail
Rose Bowl Special.”
11
Texas wingback Noble Doss makes his famous grab, derailing the Aggies’ 1940 season.
12. Nov. 30, 1946 — Philadelphia, Pa. — Army 21, Navy 18
In the last game of their three-year undefeated career, Army’s famous duo of Glenn
Davis and Doc Blanchard went out in style. Davis scored from 14 yards out on a
sweep, Blanchard roared 52 yards up the middle for six, and to top things off, Davis
took a lateral from Arnold Tucker and pitched a 27-yard touchdown pass to Blanchard.
It was the touchdown that held off a Navy rally. During their stay at West Point,
Mr. Outside and Mr. Inside could only give Army three national titles and a 27-0-1
record.
12
The Black Knights’ famed All-American backfield trio (L-R) Glenn Davis, Arnold Tucker and Doc Blanchard. All three were elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
28
October 2013
13. Oct. 25, 1947 — New York City — Columbia 21, Army 20
Baker Field could squeeze in 30,000, maybe, but 100,000 claim they saw it —
the 26-yard pass from Columbia’s Gene Rossides to Bill Swiacki. With less than six
minutes to play, Swiacki completed his route by hanging in the air horizontally with
outstretched fingers and making the catch at the Army 3-yard line. It set up the touchdown and extra point that ended Army’s 32-game unbeaten streak.
Swiacki had made other circus catches in the game, one of them in the end zone
on a 50-yard bomb for an earlier touchdown, but none of them were quite as miraculous as this one.
13
14. Nov. 1, 1947 — Dallas, Texas, Cotton Bowl — SMU 14, Texas 13
It was Doak Walker vs. Bobby Layne, two All-Americans and old high school
teammates in Dallas. It also matched two undefeated teams that were ranked among
the nation’s top five. It was a home game for SMU, but its modest Ownby Stadium
couldn’t hold the 4 million fans who wanted tickets, so the game was moved to the
Cotton Bowl, where at least 50,000 could see it.
The big pass play unfolded in the second quarter with the score tied at 7-7. SMU’s
pitching specialist, Gil Johnson, came in and lofted a towering pass to Doak Walker,
who jumped about 10 feet in the air to pull it down and race to the Longhorns
1-yard line, a shocking 54-yard gain. This set up the touchdown and Doak’s gamewinning extra point kick.
Columbia end Bill Swiacki goes horizontal for a touchdown, ending Army’s 32-game winning streak in 1947.
15. Nov. 10, 1956 — Atlanta, Ga. — Tennessee 6, Georgia Tech 0
Another “Game of the Century,” but this one southern fried and played in the
Deep South. Georgia Tech was 6-0 and No. 2; Tennessee was 6-0 and No. 3. It turned
out to be a game of gasping defensive stops and brilliant punting — except for one
play in the third quarter.
Tennessee was still a Single Wing team in those days, and nobody ran it better
than the Vols’ Johnny Majors, who, like Peyton Manning years later, should have won
the Heisman, but didn’t. Majors found his favorite target, Buddy Cruze, on a 45-yard
play that set up the winning score. Cruze caught the ball at Tech’s 25, and squirmed,
twisted, and outran folks to the 1-yard line, from where fullback Tommy Bronson
banged it over.
For a game in which only one touchdown was scored, nobody called it boring.
SMU’s miracle man, Doak Walker, leaps and brings down a 40-yard pass in 1947 to set up the winning
touchdown over Texas and his good friend, Bobby Layne. Photo provided by SMU Athletics.
16. Jan. 1, 1960 — Cotton Bowl — Syracuse 23, Texas 14
The longest touchdown pass in Cotton Bowl history came off in the game’s first
one minute and 23 seconds. Syracuse, already the undefeated national champion and
two-touchdown favorite, found itself back on its own 13-yard line two plays after the
opening kickoff. That’s where quarterback Dave Sarette lateraled out to halfback Ger
Schwedes who in turn fired a pass across the field to the other halfback, a sprinting
Ernie Davis — future Heisman winner. Davis caught the ball at his 43 in the midst
of three Longhorns and outran them to the end zone, completing an 87-yard play.
Before the game Texas coach Darrell Royal had said, “Syracuse is a great outfit
with no weaknesses, but we’re a hittin’ team, and I don’t know if they’ve been hit yet.”
A moment after that long TD pass, a press box occupant said, “They still haven’t been
hit.”
I confess.
Hall of Famer and Tennessee halfback Johnny Majors.
14
15
16
Ernie Davis helped immortalize No. 44 at Syracuse.
29
October 2013
17. Nov. 28, 1964 — Los Angeles, Calif. — Southern Cal 20, Notre Dame 17
Having won only two games the year before, Notre Dame went into the LA Coliseum 9-0, No. 1 in the nation and led USC by 17-0 at the half.
Small wonder that coach Ara Parseghian wrote on the backboard: “You are 30 minutes away from the greatest comeback in sports history.”
It was, of course, 30 minutes too long. Trojan quarterback Craig Fertig cranked
up his passing arm, and started spraying bullets at his two best receivers, Rod Sherman
and Fred Hill. This narrowed the score to 17-13. Then with only 1:40 left to play,
Fertig once again drove the Trojans to the Irish 15 where it was fourth down. Here he
hoisted a last desperate pass at Rod Sherman, who went up and grabbed it at the
2-yard line with a defender right on him, but spun his way across the goal line. No
luck for the Irish that day.
18. Oct. 4, 1969 — Birmingham, Ala. — Alabama 33, Ole Miss 32
On this day footballs fluttered over Legion Field like geese going south for the
winter. Archie Manning of Ole Miss and Scott Hunter of Alabama unleashed them.
In one of the most thrilling games ever played in the SEC, Manning completed 33
tosses for 438 yards, and ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns. Hunter pitched
for 300 yards and, in a game of breathless lead changes that created insanity for the
62,000 on hand, Hunter connected with George Ranager for 17 yards and the gamewinner with 3:42 left on the clock. Ranager caught it at the 4, jerked away from a
tackler, and dived across the goal line.
Later in life Alabama coach Bear Bryant said, “I don’t know how we won that
game, and I sure don’t know how our people stood to watch it.”
17
Rod Sherman makes the critical catch for the Trojans in their 1964 victory against the Fighting Irish.
19. Dec. 6, 1969 — Fayetteville, Ark. — Texas 15, Arkansas 14
Texas coach Darrell Royal, quarterback James Street, tight end Randy Peschel, and
a national championship were all hanging on “Right 53 Veer Pass,” which translated
into tight end long, only man down. Royal called it for Street to throw and Peschel
to catch on fourth down from the Longhorns’ own 43 with four minutes to play, and
Arkansas ahead, 14-8.
It was the biggest play in “The Big Shootout.” Street threw it perfectly, Peschel
caught it over his shoulder running full speed only a step ahead of two Razorbacks.
The play covered 44 yards, put Texas on the Arkansas 13 from where they drove in
for the winning touchdown. When Royal had called the play on the sideline during
a timeout, Street said, “Are you sure that’s what you want?” Royal said, “Damn right,
I’m sure.”
Legend has it that the only humor involved was when Street called the play in the
huddle. Tackle Bob McKay supposedly said, “Hell, James, you can’t throw it that far.”
18
Archie Manning of Ole Miss (left) and Scott Hunter of Alabama (right) put on an electrifying aerial dual in 1969.
Hunter connected with George Ranager for the pass that clinched the game, but Manning put on a display for the ages.
19
Texas converted a critical fourth down against Arkansas whenQB James Street ( left) connected with Randy
Peschel (right) for a 44-yard strike that set up the winning play in the 1969 national championship game.
30
October 2013
20. Jan. 1, 1975 — Rose Bowl — Southern Cal 18, Ohio State 17
There were two minutes left. The Trojans were down 17-10 to Heisman winner
Archie Griffin and the Buckeyes. Ball on the Ohio State 38. A national championship
in the balance. USC quarterback Pat Haden drifted back to his 45 and let loose the
pass. Wide receiver J. K. McKay, son of John McKay, the Trojans’ coach, was speeding
into a corner of the Buckeye end zone, a step ahead of his defender. The ball arrived,
McKay caught it, barely in bounds, for the touchdown.
During a timeout, John McKay decided to go for the win rather than the tie.
Haden ran to his right, a Buckeye practically swallowed him up, but Haden jumped
and fired a pass into the falling arms of the other wide receiver, Shelton Diggs. But
the 2-point play wouldn’t have taken place if it hadn’t been for the long pass that was
caught earlier by the son of the coach.
20
21. Nov. 8, 1980 — Jacksonville, Fla. — Georgia 26, Florida 21
If you were a Georgia Bulldog fan, you may never have been more depressed. You
had the only perfect-record team left in the land at 8-0, and your Herschel Walker
has gained 238 yards today, but you were still losing 21-20 to the underdog Florida
Gators — and now your team was back on its own 7-yard line, third down, only 1:30
left to play. What was there to do but go outside of the Gator Bowl and have another
drink at “the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party?”
Well, there was one other thing. Georgia’s quarterback Buck Belue took the snap
and was chased into his end zone, but he scrambled back out to the five and found a
flanker, Lindsay Scott, facing him and waving his arms at the 26. Belue threw the
pass, and Scott cradled it and did the rest, having been the anchor man on the school’s
440-yard relay team. He raced 74 yards only a step or two ahead of three desperate
Gators for the winning touchdown, the play covering 93 yards.
USC’s J.K. McKay hauls in Pat Haden’s pass in the end zone with 2:03 to play in the 1975 Rose Bowl.
Photo provided by Southern California Athletics.
21
22. Nov. 23, 1984 — Miami, Fla. — Boston College 47, Miami 45
A man could find himself drowning in a vat of clam chowder if he didn’t include
the Doug Flutie “Hail Mary” on any list of great passing plays. I won’t risk it.
The situation was this: Flutie and Miami’s Bernie Kosar, each a candidate for the
Heisman, were in an aerial war. So far, Kosar had thrown for 447 yards and three
touchdowns. Flutie had thrown for 424 yards and three touchdowns. Miami led, 4541, but BC had the ball on the Hurricanes’ 48 with six seconds left. Flutie told everybody to go deep, took the snap, evaded a rush, scampered back to his own 37 ... five
… four … three … and let fly the ball, 63 yards in the air. His favorite target, Gerard
Phelan, had slipped behind a cluster of Miami defenders, and was practically on his
knees in the end zone as the ball floated down in his arms, or lap. Heisman for Flutie.
Georgia flanker Lindsay Scott races 74 yards after collecting a pass from quarterback Buck Belue for the
game-winning play.
22
Boston College guard Steve Trapilo hoists Doug Flutie after the quarterback’s famous Hail Mary pass to
Gerard Phelan, giving the Eagles a 47-45 win over Miami in 1984. Photo provided by Boston College Athletics.
31
October 2013
the 25 Greatest College Passing Plays
23. Jan. 7, 2007 — Fiesta Bowl — Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42
The “hook and lateral” play was as old as Pop Warner and as common in the ’30s
as bread lines, but it had been taking a long nap until Boise State sprung it on the
Oklahoma Sooners to tie a wild bowl game in Tempe, Ariz., and send it into overtime
— where the Broncos would win it with another trick play out of coach Chris
Petersen’s bag, the ancient Statue of Liberty for a 2-point conversion.
There were seven seconds left in the game, and Boise State faced a fourth-and-18
from the OU 45-yard line. Bronco quarterback Jared Zabransky faded back, shot a
15-yard strike over the middle to Drisan James, who immediately lateraled to Jerard
Rabb coming the other way, and Rabb sped 30 untouched yards for the score.
They ran it to perfection. The point-after put the game in overtime, where Boise
State shocked the Sooners again with the old Statue thing.
23
Boise WR Jerard Rabb heads for the end zone after a lateral from teammate Drisan James, which followed
the pass from QB Jared Zabransky, in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma.
24. Nov. 1, 2008 — Lubbock, Texas — Texas Tech 39, Texas 33
After falling behind 19-0 early in the second quarter, No. 1 Texas spent the next
two hours gradually fighting back to take a 33-32 lead with only 1:29 to go. Texas
quarterback Colt McCoy and receiver/kick returner Jordan Shipley had been on a rescue mission. But the Red Raiders still had their own weapons.
Tech quarterback Graham Harrell completed four straight passes, and whirled his
team to the Texas 28-yard line with eight seconds left to play. That’s when Harrell
flipped a pass to Michael Crabtree at the Texas 6, the receiver barely in bounds and
well-covered. But Crabtree did a move, did a tightrope, did a tiptoe, and skipped into
the end zone with one second showing on the clock. Miracles are made of such things.
Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said, “I guess it was the biggest game in our history.
Or the biggest game in our history this year, anyway.”
24
Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree stays in bounds and finds the endzone for the 2008 victory against
Texas.
25. Nov. 10, 2012 — Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Texas A&M 29, Alabama 24
The world on this day met Johnny Football, also known as Johnny Manziel, Texas
A&M’s freshman quarterback who was on his way to the Heisman trophy. To get there
he knocked off No. 1 Alabama on its home turf by passing for 253 yards and two
touchdowns, and running for 92 more.
Three of his passes were shocking. One involved getting trapped, wiggling loose,
bobbling the ball, catching it, and then running left but throwing right to his top
receiver Ryan Swope for a 10-yard touchdown. Another involved Johnny Football
slinging a 42-yard bomb to Swope again, streaking down the sideline in a bevy of
Alabama defenders. Great throw, great catch. Then a moment later he spiraled the 24yard winning TD to Malcome Kennedy, who caught it in a full stride near a corner of
the end zone, barely a step ahead of his defender.
Forced to choose one of those, I’ll go with the long one to Swope. It put the
impulsive Aggies in position to wrap up that shocking upset.
Now if you want 25 more, I’ll start with TCU’s Sam Baugh against Santa Clara in
Kezar Stadium on a day back in ’36 when he…
25
Texas A&M receiver Ryan Swope pulls in one of his critical passes from Heisman winner Johnny Manziel as
the Aggies upset No. 1 ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
About DAn Jenkins
> Many members of the media cover college football out of a love of the game and the opportunity for a front row seat to history. NFF Historian
Dan Jenkins, a celebrated novelist and longtime writer at Sports Illustrated, has probably had the best seats of anybody during his 65-year
stay in the press box, and he continues with his prolific ways today, writing novels, a monthly column for Golf Digest and periodic gems
for the Footballetter.
32
October 2013
December 11-12, 2013
The New York Marriott Marquis
at Times Square | New York City
FEATURED SPEAKER
NCAA President
Mark Emmert
We will go one-on-one with NCAA President Mark Emmert at the
12th annual IMG Intercollegiate Athletics Forum.
The interview will address College as a Community and the Evolution of
College Sports as a Business and we will also get into some of the more
hard-hitting Headlines of the Day, including the future of the NCAA and any
major structural and governance changes the association has planned.
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
For more INFORMATION and to REGISTER, please go to
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SIGNAGE
PROVIDED BY
For more information on SPONSORSHIP or EXHIBIT opportunities,
please contact Julie Tuttle at 212-500-0711
or [email protected].
College football Hall fame
>Opening in the fall of 2014
C
onstruction on the new College Football Hall of Fame continues full force
with a grand opening anticipated in August of 2014 in the heart of downtown Atlanta.
“The new Hall of Fame will provide an incredible and highly-interactive experience
for fans to connect with the game,” said Steve Hatchell, the president & CEO of National
Football Foundation, which launched the Hall in 1951 and will maintain board oversight
of the operations of the new attraction in Atlanta. “Whether it is the history created by
the greatest legends or a full slate of modern events that link to the present day, the facility
will serve as a national platform for celebrating the game. We are extremely grateful to
Atlanta and all of those who have played a role in making this project a reality.”
With a total project cost estimated at $66.5 million, the new the 94,256-square-foot
facility will feature historic and contemporary artifacts, interactive multimedia displays,
children’s activities, a theater featuring a Ultra High-Definition film as well as unique
event spaces, including a 45-yard indoor football field that will be able to accommodate
up to 1,200 people.
atlanta HigHligHts
> $66.5 million project, plus $15 million in state infrastructure surrounding
the Hall.
> Continuous construction began Jan. 28, 2013, with the doors opening in
August 2014.
> Total square footage of 94,256, including a football field that will serve as
event space.
> Stabilized annual attendance projected of 500,000 in the third year.
> Projected to generate $105 million in revenue during its first decade of operation.
“We couldn't be happier with the progress that we have made,” said John Stephenson,
the president and CEO of College Football Hall of Fame. “The plans are spectacular, and
it is truly rewarding to watch the building come off the page and turn into reality. We
have a remarkable team of staff, stakeholders and partners that have never wavered in
their commitment to bring the Hall to Atlanta. This facility will be a powerful asset for
our city and state, as well as a college football "home away from home" for fans from
across the country.”
Having inducted its first class in 1951, the Hall represents the highest level of achievement for players and coaches, and the facility plays a central role in the NFF’s mission by
dramatizing the history of the game in such a way as to inspire young people to excellence
throughout their lives.
Steps from Centennial Olympic Park, the new Hall will add to an already thriving
sports, entertainment and tourism district that includes the World of Coca-Cola, Georgia
Aquarium, CNN Center, Philips Arena, Georgia Dome, Georgia World Congress Center
and the soon-to-be-opened National Center for Civil and Human Rights. The state-ofthe-art attraction promises to educate, entertain and engage fans with a continuous flow
of changing exhibits and interactive events that will attract an estimated 500,000 people
a year. Fans can watch a live construction camera by CLICKING HERE.
Hall of fame fly-tHrougH Video
34
October 2013
college football hall fame
history and hall facts
> Established in 1951 by the National Football Foundation.
> More than 4.99 million student-athletes have played college
football since the first game on Nov. 6, 1869.
> After Dec. 10, 2013, only 1,139 legends will have been
inducted (934 players and 205 coaches, including this year’s
class) or less than two ten-thousandths of one percent
(.0002) of those who have played the game during the past
145 years.
> 296 schools are represented with Hall of Famers.
> First class of inductees included notables Red Grange (Illinois), George Gipp (Notre Dame), Knute Rockne (Notre
Dame), Amos Alonzo Stagg (4 schools) and Jim Thorpe
(Carlisle).
> The 2013 Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision Class
includes 12 players and two coaches.
(Above) The College Football Hall of Fame will contain a 45-yard indoor
football field that can accomodate up to 1,200 people.
(Left) College football fans will enter into this rotunda in the new College
Football Hall of Fame.
35
October 2013
College Football Hall Fame
(Above) College football fans can learn about the legacy and history of the inductees in the Hall of Fame.
(Below Left) The Hall of Fame will include a 3D/4K Game Day Theatre.
(Below Right) Fans will enter the Hall of Fame through a tunnel, which displays team helmets and prominent players.
36
October 2013
college Football Hall Fame
LEgacy brick program
> As part of an exclusive, limited-run opportunity, fans will be able to forever own a piece
of the new Hall with the purchase of a commemorative brick. Each brick, which will
remain part of the Hall in perpetuity, will be engraved with a name chosen by the purchaser and a special message. Prices begin at $100. For more information, please visit
www.cfbhall.com/bricks or call 1-855-HOF-BRIX (463-2749).
Members of the 2013 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Class stand in front of the Hall construction site on Aug. 28, 2013, L-R (front row): Coach Frank Cignetti
(West Virginia, Indiana [Pa.]), Coach Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee), Greg Myers (Colorado State), Jeff Wittman (Ithaca College [N.Y.]), Gabe Rivera (Texas
Tech), Shelby Jordan (Washington University in St. Louis [Mo.]) and Coach R.C. Slocum (Texas A&M). Back Row: Mark Simoneau (Kansas State), Hal
Bedsole (Southern California), Art Monk (Syracuse), Coach James “Boots” Donnelly (Austin Peay State, Middle Tennessee State), Charles Alexander (LSU),
Dave Casper (Notre Dame), Joe Micchia (Westminster College [Pa.]), Steve Bartkowski (California), Scott Thomas (Air Force), John Wooten (Colorado)
and Art Shell (University of Maryland Eastern Shore).
37
October 2013
One Ring to Commemorate Them All
> NFF Extends Partnership with Herff Jones
Members of the 2002 Hall of Fame Class celebrate during the ring ceremony, L-R: Terry Beasley (Auburn), George “Sonny” Franck (Minnesota), Cosmo Iacavazzi (Princeton), John Jefferson (Arizona State), Ronnie
Lott (Southern California), Dan Marino (Pittsburgh), Napoleon McCallum (Navy), Reggie McKenzie (Michigan).
T
he National Football Foundation (NFF) announced in July its continued
partnership with Herff Jones, Inc., an Indianapolis-based manufacturer
of fine graduation, motivational and recognition products, professional
sports championship rings (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL), and the 2012 college football national championship ring. Since 1998, Herff Jones has provided the Foundation with the commemorative rings that are presented to inductees of the College
Football Hall of Fame.
“For 16 years, Herff Jones has provided us with symbols of excellence of the highest
quality, and we are pleased to extend our relationship through 2016,” said NFF President
& CEO Steve Hatchell. “We believe that each Hall of Fame inductee deserves a truly
special, unique piece to celebrate such an outstanding accomplishment. The detail and
craftsmanship of the rings created by Herff Jones are truly exceptional, just like the men
we are honoring.”
The 14 individuals to be honored as inductees into the 2013 Football Bowl Subdivision College Football Hall of Fame class will be presented with their rings at this year’s
Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 10 in New York City. The seven members of the Divisional College Football Hall of Fame class received their rings on Aug. 28 during the enshrinement ceremonies, which took place in the Omni Hotel at CNN Center, located
adjacent to the construction site of the new College Football Hall of Fame in
Atlanta, Ga.
“Herff Jones takes great pride in creating the College Football Hall of Fame rings,”
said Tom Tanton, chief operating officer of Herff Jones, Inc. “It is an honor to continue
the tradition of supplying the NFF with these commemorative pieces that are bestowed
on these accomplished former college athletes.”
Each College Football Hall of Fame 10K gold ring includes a royally set diamond embedded in a blue spinel stone. The ring features the Hall of Famer’s name, position and
school, as well as the year of induction into the Hall of Fame.
Herff Jones also developed the rings presented to inductees of the newly formed NFF
Leadership Hall of Fame (pictured at right). Established in 2013, the National Football
Foundation’s Leadership Hall of Fame recognizes elite individuals who have led their or-
ganizations to the highest levels of success and share the NFF’s mission of building leaders
through football. George Pyne, IMG Worldwide’s President of Sports and Entertainment,
and Jerry Jones, owner, president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, have been
named charter inductees, and they were inducted Sept. 10 and Oct. 3, respectively.
Herff Jones has a distinguished history creating some of college football’s most recognizable awards. These include the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award, as well as the
Harlon Hill Trophy, awarded each year to the Division II College Football Player of the
Year. Herff Jones also creates the Wuerffel Trophy, named for 2013 College Football Hall
of Fame inductee and 1996 NFF William V. Campbell Trophy recipient Danny
Wuerffel (Florida).
Founded nearly 100 years ago, Herff Jones works closely with customers to create a
climate of achievement through
motivation and recognition tools,
rings and jewelry, graduation products, yearbooks, educational publishing, cheerleading, sporting goods
and uniforms.
2013 Hall of Famer Scott Thomas (Air Force) proudly
displays his ring after the induction ceremony.
39
October 2013
1996
Danny Wuerffel
(Florida)
1997
Peyton Manning
(Tennessee)
1999
Chad Pennington
(Marshall)
2000
Kyle Vanden Bosch
(Nebraska)
2001
Joaquin Gonzalez
(Miami)
2008
Alex Mack
(California)
2009
Sam Acho
(Texas)
Since 1990, The William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, has been presented by the National
Football Foundation to the nation’s top scholar-athlete for his combined academic success, football performance and
leadership in the community. The 2013 recipient of “College Football’s Premier Scholar-Athlete Award” will be announced
live at the 56th NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City.

Vol. 55, No. 3 - FootballFoundation.org

Transcription

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