A two-time All-American center at Oklahoma, Brahaney becomes the seventh Hall of Fame inductee who played or coached in the "Game of the Century," Nebraska's 35-31 win over the Sooners on Thanksgiving Day 36 years ago.

Brahaney's battle with another future Hall of Famer, Nebraska nose guard Rich Glover, was one of the classic matchups in that classic contest.

When it was finished, national sports columnist David Kindred wrote: "They can quit playing now, they have played the perfect game."

It did contain about every element of excitement and drama needed for perfection. But it wouldn't have been perfect without Jack Mildren's considerable contributions. So, shouldn't the former OU quarterback also be in the Hall of Fame?

"Hell yes," Barry Switzer said (yelled) Thursday in a telephone interview. "You darn right, Jack Mildren belongs in there."

An OU assistant in 1971, Switzer is one of the seven who participated in that OU-Nebraska game who are in the Hall of Fame. Along with Switzer, Brahaney and Glover, the others are OU running back Greg Pruitt, Nebraska wingback Johnny Rodgers and Cornhusker coaches Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne.

Brahaney, Pruitt, Glover and Rodgers all had their special moments in that game. But it wouldn't have reached "Game of the Century" status without Mildren, who ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more in almost

One game obviously doesn't qualify anyone for the Hall of Fame. That 1971 OU-Nebraska contest is just a point of reference. It was also Mildren's final one at OU's Memorial Stadium, capping an excellent record-breaking senior season and historic career.

Without Mildren, Switzer probably wouldn't have ever had the chance to become the Sooners' head coach and win three national championships. Switzer's job was on the line along with head coach Chuck Fairbanks and the rest of the OU staff in 1970 when the Sooners installed the Wishbone offense in the middle of the season.

Mildren's athletic skills were perfect to operate the triple-option attack. And his own statistics suffered because he pitched the ball so many times to OU's stable of All-American running backs and rarely attempted a pass in the run-oriented scheme.

Still, Mildren rushed for 1,041 yards his senior season and had 25 career TD passes. His versatility in the nation's most potent offense was on full display in the bitter loss to Nebraska.

"What he did as quarterback, throwing for 1,000 yards and running for another 1,000, nobody else was doing it," Switzer said. "Without Jack Mildren, we could have never done what we did."

So why isn't Mildren in the Hall of Fame? Switzer believes it's because the player he personally recruited out of Abilene, Texas, didn't make the "right" All-American teams. The No. 1 criteria the Hall of Fame requires for induction is that a player be a first-team selection on "one or more major college football All-American teams."

Auburn's Pat Sullivan was the consensus All-American quarterback in 1971, as well as that season's Heisman Trophy winner.

"It's ridiculous," Switzer said of Mildren's snub. "They have so many All-American teams today, so what is the (true) criteria?"

In addition to having fewer All-American teams in 1971, Switzer maintains that several deserving players will never make the Hall of Fame because the media's decisions in those days were dictated by coaches' recommendations.

"Joe Namath will never be in the College Football Hall of Fame because of their criteria," Switzer said of the former Alabama quarterback. "He (Namath) wasn't an All-American because Coach (Bear) Bryant benched him for the Sugar Bowl (for breaking curfew) and the media went along with it.

"Do you think that would happen today? Hell, the media would ignore the coach and put Namath on the team. And he should be in the Hall of Fame."

Mildren, nose guard Lucious Selmon and linebacker Rod Shoate are the Sooners that Switzer coached whom he would definitely like to see in the Hall of Fame. Selmon played in the 1971 game as a sophomore, but became a star along with Shoate when Switzer took over in 1973 and started winning conference and national titles.

"Both of us later had more talented teams that could have kicked both of those (1971) teams' butts," Switzer said of the Sooners and Huskers. "But that was a great, great era."

And Jack Mildren helped make it great with a Hall of Fame-worthy career.