PULLMAN — Former Washington State running back Rueben Mayes has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, the national Football Foundation announced Thursday.
Mayes is among 15 former players and coaches elected Thursday.
Mayes is the third Cougars player to be inducted 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. Former WSU coaches Orin “Babe” Hollingbery and Forest Evashevski also are hall inductees.
“I am completely humbled to have been selected for this prestigious honor and represent Washington State,” Mayes said. “It means to a lot to me and my family. My wife of 20-plus years, whom I met at Washington State, and my two sons Logan and Kellen were very excited about the award.”
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.
“This school means a lot to me for not only my athletic career, but also my professional career,” said Mayes, a fundraiser for WSU’s School of Business. “A lot of people helped me along the way, from high school and collegiate coaches to mentors at a number of different levels.”
Mayes played for former WSU coach Jim Walden from 1982-1985.
Drafted by New Orleans in the third round in 1986, Mayes was named the NFL Rookie of the Year after rushing for 1,353 yards in his first year with the Saints. He played with New Orleans through the 1991 season, earning selections to the Pro Bowl in 1986 and 1987.
After five years with the Saints, Mayes played two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks before retiring. His professional totals included 866 carries for 3,484 yards and 23 touchdowns in seven seasons.
The class will be inducted in New York in December and enshrined in the summer of 2009 at the Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.
Mayes was inducted into the WSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.
HALL OF FAME: Troy Aikman, Billy Cannon and Lou Holtz are among the other former players and coaches elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Aikman started his college career at Oklahoma, then transferred to UCLA. After two stellar seasons (1987-88) with the Bruins, he was drafted first overall by the Dallas Cowboys.
Holtz coached six schools to 249 victories in a career that spanned more than 30 years. He won a national title with Notre Dame in 1988.
Cannon played tailback for LSU from 1957-59, winning the Heisman Trophy his senior year.
The other 11 players chosen by the National Football Foundation’s selection committee are 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.
John Cooper, who went 192-84-6 with Tulsa, Arizona State and Ohio State, is the other coach selected for induction.
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.
BUTKUS AWARD: A nonprofit group that hands out the Butkus Award to the nation’s top college linebacker will stop presenting it after a year-long legal battle with the Hall of Famer.
Dick Butkus sued in Los Angeles federal court in 2007, demanding the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando relinquish control of the Butkus Award, which it had given out for 23 years and trademarked in 1987. He said the club didn’t raise enough money for charity and in April won a summary judgment.
In exchange for returning the trademark to Butkus, the club will be able to use his name in conjunction with other fundraisers. The settlement was reached this week.
“Dick is thrilled,” Butkus lawyer Robert Helfing said.
Helfing said Butkus, who lives in Los Angeles, had no specific plans but wants the awards ceremony in his adopted hometown of Chicago.
“The point of this whole lawsuit was to use this award to raise charitable funds, and he feels he will be able to do that better in Chicago than down in Florida,” Helfing said.
Club officials said in a statement that the cost to defend the lawsuit was no longer justifiable, and the money could be better used to serve youth.
“We’re glad it’s over, but we’re sad,” club president Chip Landon said. “You hate to give up when you know you’re in the right. But there comes a point when we really had to think about the kids who won the award the past 23 years. They’re proud of that. We didn’t want to see that go away.”
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