DeAngelo Williams becomes first Memphis player inducted into College Football Hall of Fame

The best player in Memphis football history is now immortalized in the College Football Hall of Fame.

DeAngelo Williams was officially inducted into the hall of fame at a ceremony Tuesday night in Las Vegas. Williams, a running back who played for the Tigers from 2002-2005, went into the hall of fame in a 22-person class that also included Reggie Bush and Tim Tebow.

“Growing up, I watched Ron Dayne, I watched Eddie George, I watched Ricky Williams,” Williams said at a press conference earlier Tuesday. “They were all big backs. Hearing what Brian Westbrook did, those smaller backs, we wasn’t sought after. So for us to step up and do the things that we’ve done at 5-9 or 5-10, literally every time I met somebody it was like, ‘Man, you’re a little guy.’ And I’m like, ‘I didn’t know that mattered!'”

Williams is one of the most accomplished players in college football history. He’s No. 6 all-time in career rushing yards with 6,026 and set an NCAA record of 34 games with 100 or more rushing yards. He went on to play 11 years in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Former Memphis football running back DeAngelo Williams smiles as he’s inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

He was a three-time Conference USA offensive player of the year and a first team All-American in 2005, and holds most of the Memphis rushing records.

Memphis honored him during halftime of the Sept. 30 game against Boise State with a special patch on the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium turf and a halftime ceremony. He was also part of a key era for Memphis football, when the Tigers’ 2003 team earned the program’s first bowl berth since 1971 and beat North Texas in the New Orleans Bowl.

“It was special, because we had a 32 year bowl drought, and nobody was expecting anything out of us,” he said. “And then the unexpected happened: We…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/deangelo-williams-becomes-first-memphis-055439340.html

Author : The Commercial Appeal

Publish date : 2023-12-06 05:54:39

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