Oct. 23, 2014
IRVING, Texas and UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor Shane Conlan with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, on Oct. 25 in State College during the game between Penn State and Ohio State.
Coverage of the game will start at 8 p.m. on ABC and 6:30 p.m. on the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com.
"It's a great honor to join all the former Penn State players and all the great players in the College Football Hall of Fame," Conlan said. "It's very humbling. The list of nominees was such a distinguished group."
The NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute program is a hallowed tradition that began with the inaugural class in 1951, and to this day the salutes 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.
Among one of the all-time greats at "Linebacker U," Conlan starred from 1983-86. He will become the 23rd member of the Penn State football family to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
"Shane Conlan was one of the fiercest linebackers of his era," said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. "He was the undisputed leader of the Penn State defense, leading the Nittany Lions to a perfect 12-0 national championship season in 1986. We are thrilled to honor him in front of the Penn State faithful at Beaver Stadium."
A 1986 Consensus First-Team All-American and finalist for the Butkus Award, Conlan recorded eight tackles and two interceptions in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl over Miami (Fla.) to give Penn State the national title. He led the Lions to three bowl appearances, including back-to-back national titles games, and he earned Defensive MVP honors in both the 1986 Orange Bowl and the 1987 Fiesta Bowl. The co-captain and team MVP his senior season, Conlan was the leader of the 1986 defensive unit, which held every opponent to fewer than 19 points. Twice leading Penn State in tackles, he finished his career ranked second on the Lions' career tackles list with 274, and his 183 solo tackles still rank third in school history. Leading Penn State to an impressive 31-10-1 record during his time in Happy Valley, Conlan was named the Exemplary Player of the Year in 1986 by Football Roundup Magazine, and he was selected to play in the 1987 Japan Bowl.
Selected eighth overall by the Buffalo Bills in the 1987 NFL Draft, Conlan played six seasons with the Bills and three for the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams before retiring after the 1995 season. The 1987 Rookie of the Year and three-time Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection played in three straight Super Bowls with the Bills, and he was named to their 50th Anniversary Team.
Coached by Hall of Famer Joe Paterno, Conlan is enshrined in the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame and the Chautauqua County (N.Y.) Sports Hall of Fame. A community leader, he organizes the Shane Conlan Classic golf tournament, which raises money for the Heritage Valley Health System, the Shane Conlan Scholarship Fund at his old high school and various projects at Penn State. The Frewsburg, N.Y., native currently serves as the vice president of Corporate Partnerships for the Pittsburgh Power Arena Football League team.
Conlan becomes the 18th Nittany Lion to be inducted, joining John Cappelletti (1971-73), Keith Dorney (1975-78), Jack Ham (1968-70), Glenn Killinger (1918-21), Ted Kwalick (1966-68), Richie Lucas (1957-59), Pete Mauthe (1909-12), Shorty Miller (1910-13), Lydell Mitchell (1969-71), Dennis Onkotz (1967-69), Mike Reid (1966, 1968-69), Glenn Ressler (1962-64), Dave Robinson (1960-62), Steve Suhey (1942, 1946-47), Dexter Very (1909-12), Curt Warner (1979-82) and Harry Wilson (1921-23). Five coaches with stops in State College are in the Hall: Hugo Bezdek (1918-29), Rip Engle (1950-65), Dick Harlow (1915-17), Bob Higgins (1930-48) and Joe Paterno (1966-2011).
Including the 2014 class, only 948 players and 207 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.06 million people who have played or coached the game over the past 145 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 2014 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted at the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner, held at New York City's historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Tuesday, Dec. 9. This year's College Football Hall of Fame Class includes: Dre Bly (DB, North Carolina), Tony Boselli (OT, Southern California), Dave Butz (DT, Purdue), Shane Conlan (LB, Penn State), Joe Hamilton (QB, Georgia Tech), John Huard (LB, Maine), Darrin Nelson (HB, Stanford), Willie Roaf (OL, Louisiana Tech), John Sciarra (QB, UCLA), Sterling Sharpe (WR, South Carolina), Leonard Smith (CB, McNeese State), the late Derrick Thomas (LB, Alabama), LaDainian Tomlinson (TB, TCU), Wesley Walls (TE, Mississippi), and coaches Mike Bellotti (Chico State [Calif.], Oregon) and Jerry Moore (North Texas, Texas Tech and Appalachian State). For more information, please contact Will Rudd at wrudd@footballfoundation.com or by calling 972.556.1000.
The 2014 season marks the fifth season that Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of not-for-profit workplace retirement savings plans to higher education employees, is serving as the national presenting sponsor of the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes. The salutes are one component of a multi-year initiative between the two organizations to celebrate the scholar-athlete ideal and a joint commitment to higher education. At the start of the 2014 season, Fidelity became the presenting sponsor of the William V. Campbell Trophy, college football's premier scholar-athlete award, which is celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2014. Other highlights of the sponsorship include Fidelity becoming the first presenting sponsor of the organization's prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards and helping launch the NFF Faculty Salutes Initiative, which recognizes the contributions of the faculty athletics representatives around the country.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, the NFF Leadership Hall of Fame, the NFF Scholar-Athlete Awards presented by Fidelity Investments, the NFF High School Showcases, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the NFF Faculty Salute Initiative presented by Fidelity Investments, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, and scholarships of more than $1.3 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF also collaborates with the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to release the FWAA-NFF Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll; awards the William V. Campbell Trophy presented by Fidelity Investments and hosted at the New York Athletic Club; and bestows several other major awards at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner. NFF corporate partners include the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Fidelity Investments, Herff Jones, PrimeSport, the Sports Business Journal, and Under Armour. Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.