Calling all experts: Oklahomans in the Hall of Fame?
Published: 5/17/2011 3:59 PM
Last Modified: 5/17/2011 3:59 PM
We need your help.
Will Shields went into the College Football Hall of Fame today.
Which raises a bit of a problem: How many “Oklahomans” are in the College Football Hall of Fame that didn’t play (or coach, in some cases) their college football in Oklahoma?
Back in 2004, the Tulsa World started compiling what is intended to be a definitive list of Oklahomans in the hall. It’s the best we’ve had, but Shields’ election points out a significant flaw in our list.
The National Football Foundation’s website, collegefootball.org, only categorizes its inductees by certain criteria: school, years played, position, year inducted.
Nowhere is there a sorting mechanism for hometown or high school.
In Shields’ case, he was born in Fort Riley, Kan. He attended high school at Lawton. Went to college at Nebraska. So even though Kansas and Oklahoma would love to claim him, Shields goes into the College Football Hall of Fame under the Nebraska tag only. At least as sorted by the hall's website.
Another is Jim Thorpe, kind of the godfather of college football hall of famers. He was born in Prague, lived in Yale, but attended both high school and college in Carlisle, Pa. Jim Thorpe, not an Okie? We need to talk.
Look up Darrell Royal on the organization’s website. Born in Hollis. Played at OU. But, as a coach at Mississippi State, Washington and Texas, Royal has no Oklahoma roots other than a bullet-point entry in his bio — one of nearly 1,100 hall of famer bios on the website. Come on, now. One of OU fans' greatest joys is to tell Texas fans that their best coach is an Okie (and a Sooner).
I talked to an NFF/HOF employee today, and he agreed that adding a sortable hometown/high school function to the website was a good idea. It would only help increase the hall’s visibility and gain publicity. He said he would inquire about adding it for future searches, though with 896 players and 192 coaches (now you see my problem), it’ll take some time.
So I’m asking all the college football know-it-alls out there, all the experts who read this blog, any one within range of cyberspace, for an assist.
Who else belongs on our list? We know all the OU, OSU and TU guys. Even got one from my alma mater, East Central. But now we need guys who were born in Oklahoma or went to high school here but played their entire career in another state. Maybe even guys who lived a short time here in their youth, or perhaps chose to retire here (though we’ll need confirmation of that).
Look at our list below. Tell us the obvious ones we missed. Dust off the old-timers long forgotten. Let us know who’s missing.
Send your replies to john.hoover@tulsaworld.com. If you’d rather call, leave a message at 918-581-8384.
— John E. Hoover
Oklahomans in the College Football Hall of Fame
Pos Player School Year (year inducted)
QB Troy Aikman, Oklahoma 1984-85/UCLA 1987-88 (2008)
C Tom Brahaney, Oklahoma 1970-72 (2007)
C Kurt Burris, Oklahoma 1951-54 (2000)
QB Brad Calip, East Central 1982-85 (2003)
NG Tony Casillas, Oklahoma 1982-85 (2004)
HB Glenn Dobbs, Tulsa 1940-42 (1980)
HB Bob Fenimore, Oklahoma State 1943-46 (1972)
FB Forest Geyer, Oklahoma 1913-15 (1973)
TE Keith Jackson, Oklahoma 1984-87 (2001)
HB Tommy McDonald, Oklahoma 1954-56 (1985)
E Jim Owens, Oklahoma 1946-49 (1982)
HB Steve Owens, Oklahoma 1967-69 (1991)
HB Greg Pruitt, Oklahoma 1970-72 (1999)
FB Claude Reeds, Oklahoma 1910-13 (1961)
QB Jerry Rhome, Tulsa 1963-64 (1998)
G J.D. Roberts, Oklahoma 1951-53 (1993)
TB Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State 1986-88 (2003)
DT Lee Roy Selmon, Oklahoma 1972-75 (1988)
*OG Will Shields, Nebraska (Lawton) 1989-92 (2011)
HB Billy Sims, Oklahoma 1975-79 (1995)
* HB Clendon Thomas, Oklahoma, 1955-57 (2011)
RB Thurman Thomas, Oklahoma State 1984-87 (2008)
HB Jim Thorpe, Carlisle (Prague/Yale) 1907-08, ’11-12 (1951)
C Jerry Tubbs, Oklahoma 1954-56 (1996)
WR Howard Twilley, Tulsa 1963-65 (1992)
HB Billy Vessels, Oklahoma 1950-52 (1974)
HB Joe Washington, Oklahoma 1972-75 (2005)
T Jim Weatherall, Oklahoma 1948-51 (1992)
E Waddy Young, Oklahoma 1936-38 (1986)
Coaches, school, years (induction)
John Cooper, Tulsa 1977-84 (2008)
Biff Jones, Oklahoma 1935-36 (1954)
Benny Owen, Oklahoma 1905-26 (1951)
Darrell Royal, Texas (Hollis) 1957-76 (1983)
Francis Schmidt, Tulsa 1919-21 (1971)
Barry Switzer, Oklahoma 1973-88 (2001)
Jim Tatum, Oklahoma 1946 (1984)
Lynn Waldorf, Oklahoma City 1926-27/Oklahoma State 1929-33 (1966)
Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma 1947-63 (1969)
* Shields and Thomas will be inducted at a ceremony in December in New York and enshrined into the Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana, in August 2012.
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
