The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Ricky Williams set for Oct. 24 NFF Hall of Fame on-campus salute
10.15.2015 | Football
Texas and the National Football Foundation will jointly honor Williams, a 2015 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, as the Longhorns host Kansas State.
IRVING, Texas -- The University of Texas and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor Ricky Williams with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute Saturday, Oct. 24, in Austin, Texas, during the game between the Longhorns and Kansas State. Coverage of the game will start at 11 a.m. CT on FS1.
"Making the College Football Hall of Fame is a lifelong dream," Williams said after the announcement in January. "I was a huge college football fan growing up and always had a dream of winning the Heisman Trophy. That was a tremendous honor, and now to be going into the Hall of Fame with all of the greatest players that have ever played, it's just an unbelievable feeling. It kind of feels like a culmination of my college football career and brings back so many great memories."
The NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute program, which began with the inaugural class in 1951, has become a hallowed tradition, and to this day the singular events remain the first of numerous activities in each inductee's Hall of Fame experience. During the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, each inductee returns to his alma mater to accept a Hall of Fame plaque that will remain on permanent display at the institution. The events take place on the field during a home game, and many inductees cite the experience as the ultimate capstone to their careers, providing them one more chance to take the field and hear the crowd roar their name.
"Ricky Williams is certainly among the greatest running backs in college football history," said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. "He took home the Heisman Trophy and finished college as the leading-rusher in NCAA history. We are thrilled to honor him in front of the Texas faithful at DKR."
Ending his career as the NCAA's all-time leading rusher with 6,279 yards, Ricky Williams took home the Heisman Trophy in 1998 following his All-America career at Texas. A unanimous First Team All-American his junior and senior seasons, Williams took home the 1998 Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, and he was the first-ever two-time recipient of the Doak Walker Award.
The two-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year won back-to-back NCAA rushing titles in 1997 and 1998, and he set 21 NCAA records, including all-purpose yards (7,206) and rushing touchdowns (72). A three-time First Team All-Big 12 selection, Williams led Texas to the 1995 Southwest Conference championship and the 1996 Big 12 title. He led the Longhorns to three bowl berths, earning MVP honors in the 1999 Cotton Bowl, and he finished his Texas career with 46 school records.
Williams is one of only three Longhorns to post three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, and he set school records for carries (1,011), yards (6,279), yards per game (136.5) and rushing touchdowns (72) during his career. The 1998 AP and Sporting News Player of the Year, Williams was a member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll and the 1998 AFCA Good Works Team. During his time in Austin, he played for coaches John Mackovic and Mack Brown.
Selected with the fifth overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, Williams would go on to spend eleven seasons in the NFL with the Saints, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens and one season with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. The San Diego native went to the Pro Bowl in 2002, and he set the Dolphins' record for most 100-yard rushing games in team history with 24.
Williams has served as an analyst on Longhorn Network and as an assistant football coach at the University of the Incarnate Word, and he is active in the Austin community through the Ricky Williams Foundation. A 2013 inductee into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, he is a member of the Longhorn Hall of Honor and previously had his jersey retired by the university.
Williams becomes the 17th Longhorn to be inducted, joining Hub Bechtol (1943-46), Earl Campbell (1974-77), Doug English (1972-74), Chris Gilbert (1966-68), Jerry Gray (1981-84), Johnnie Johnson (1976-79), Malcolm Kutner (1939-41), Bobby Layne (1944-47), Roosevelt Leaks (1972-74), Bud McFadin (1948-50), Steve McMichael (1976-79), Tommy Nobis (1963-65), James Saxton Jr. (1959-61), Harley Sewell (1950-52), Jerry Sisemore (1970-72) and Harrison Stafford (1930-32). Two coaches with stops in Austin are in the Hall: Dana Bible (1937-46) and Darrell Royal (1957-76).
Including the 2015 class, only 963 players and 209 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.12 million people who have played or coached the game over the past 147 years. In other words, only two ten-thousandths of one percent (.0002) of those who have set foot on the gridiron have earned the distinction. Click here for a complete list of players and coaches in the Hall.
The 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted at the 58th NFF Annual Awards Dinner, held at New York City's historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Tuesday, Dec. 8. This year's College Football Hall of Fame Class includes: Trev Alberts (Nebraska), Brian Bosworth (Oklahoma), Bob Breunig (Arizona State), Sean Brewer (Millsaps [Miss.]), Ruben Brown (Pittsburgh), Wes Chandler (Florida), Thom Gatewood (Notre Dame), Dick Jauron (Yale), Clinton Jones (Michigan State), Lincoln Kennedy (Washington), the late Rob Lytle (Michigan), Michael Payton (Marshall), Art Still (Kentucky), Zach Thomas (Texas Tech), Ricky Williams (Texas) and coaches Bill Snyder (Kansas State) and Jim Tressel (Youngstown State, Ohio State). For more information, please contact Will Rudd at wrudd@footballfoundation.com or by calling 972.556.1000.
Remaining Scheduled 2015 NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes
(Chronological Order)
DATE | INDUCTEE | SCHOOL (YEARS PLAYED/COACHED) | OPPOSING TEAM |
Oct. 24 | Ricky Williams | Texas (1995-98) | Kansas State |
Oct. 29 | Ruben Brown | Pittsburgh (1991-94) | North Carolina |
Nov. 14 | Bob Breunig | Arizona State (1972-74) | Washington |
Nov. 21 | Dick Jauron | Yale (1970-72) | Harvard |
Nov. 27 | Lincoln Kennedy | Washington (1989-92) | Washington State |
