The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
English selected for induction into NFF College Football Hall of Fame
05.17.2011 | Football
May 17, 2011
Former Texas DT Doug English was selected for induction into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame the NFF has announced during a press conference in New York City on Tuesday.
English is the Longhorns' 16th player and 18th overall inductee (including coaches D. X. Bible and Darrell Royal) into the College Hall of Fame.
"This means that I have an opportunity to represent the University of Texas, and I will be carrying the pride of everybody that's ever flashed a "Hook 'em" or worn the Longhorn on the side of their helmet," English said. "And that I want to represent this school, this place, with the character that it deserves, and I'm going to do my best to do that."
"I can certainly think of a lot of Texas players that I admired as players, that I admired as men - and they had a huge impact on the sport and on the program here - that I think could have very easily gone in before I do. And so it's certainly something that I always would have been honored to get a chance to do, but I wouldn't have minded waiting my turn in line a little longer. I owe such a debt of gratitude to Coach Royal and the staff and to my teammates and to the people that made us feel good on gameday. I really feel like I [will] carry all those people with me when I go to New York in December."
English was a two-time All-Southwest Conference defensive tackle who helped Texas win two SWC titles, earn three top 20 finishes and aided Texas to a 10-1 mark and No. 3 final AP ranking in the 1972 campaign, which finished with a Cotton Bowl triumph over No. 4 Alabama. Named a First Team All-American as a senior, English received UT's George "Hook" McCullough Outstanding Football Player Award and the D. Harold Byrd Leadership Award his final season.
Drafted in 1975 in the 2nd round by the Detroit Lions, English played ten seasons in the NFL and recorded a career-high 13 sacks and two safeties in 1983 helping lead the Lions to the NFC Central Division title that year. He finished his career with 59 sacks, which still places him sixth on the Lions' all-time list. He was named All-Pro four times (1981-84) and went to four Pro Bowls (1978, 1981-83). English was voted the Lions' Defensive MVP in 1979 when he had 122 tackles (90 solo) and six sacks. He also holds the Lions record for career safeties with four which ties him with Hall of Fame LB Ted Hendricks for the most career safeties in NFL history.
A resident of Austin, Texas, English is the owner of a supplier logistics company. He is also the founder and president of Lone Star Paralysis Foundation, which has raised $2.4 million dedicated to research paralysis from spinal cord injuries. The foundation has hosted the Lone Star Classic, a celebrity golf tournament, for 25 years. English and his wife, Claire, have two children.
Including the 2011 FBS class, only 896 players and 192 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly five million who have played or coached the game over the past 142 years. In other words, less than one percent (.0002) have been deemed worthy of this distinction.
Founded in 1947, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame inducted its first class of inductees in 1951. The first class included 32 players and 19 coaches, including Illinois' Red Grange, Notre Dame's Knute Rockne, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Carlisle's Jim Thorpe.
There are 284 schools represented with at least one College Football Hall of Famer.
The 2011 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Class will be inducted at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 6, 2011, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. They will be officially enshrined at the College Football Hall of Fame, tentatively scheduled for the summer of 2012.
