Ex-Cougar Mayes elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
Published 12:04 pm Thursday, May 1, 2008
PULLMAN — Former Washington State running back Rueben Mayes has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Mayes was among 15 former players and coaches elected Thursday. The class also includes coach Lou Holtz and ex-UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman.
Mayes is the third Cougars player to be voted into the Hall and the first since tackle Glen “Turk” Edwards (1929-31) was enshrined in 1975. Center Mel Hein (1928-30) was inducted in 1954.
Mayes, from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, was an All-American for the Cougars. He held the WSU single-season rushing record of 1,632 yards that stood from 1984 until Jerome Harrison rushed for 1,900 yards in 2005. Mayes set an NCAA record for most rushing yards in a game when he ran for 357 yards against Oregon in 1984.
The other players chosen by the National Football Foundation’s selection committee included LSU tailback Billy Cannon, Virginia offensive tackle Jim Dombrowski, Northwestern linebacker Pat Fitzgerald, Florida linebacker Wilber Marshall, Arizona State guard Randall McDaniel, Syracuse quarterback Don McPherson, Wyoming tight end Jay Novacek, Texas Tech split end Dave Parks, Florida State nose guard Ron Simmons, Oklahoma State running back Thurman Thomas, and Army quarterback Arnold Tucker.
The two coaches elected were Holtz and John Cooper.
The latest class will be inducted at the NFF banquet in New York in December and enshrined in the summer of 2009 at the Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.
