Johnny "the Jet"Rogers to Hall of Fame

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Former Husker wingback Johnny Rodgers already has two National Championship rings, a Heisman Trophy, and a college degree. Now he can finally add one more accolade, a plaque in the College Football Hall Of Fame.

Rodgers was joined by fellow Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Allen, John Elway, Dan Dierdorf and 10 other former players in the latest class of inductees announced Tuesday.

Rodgers was a member of the 1970 and 71 National Championship Nebraska Cornhusker teams. He won the Heisman Trophy as the nation�s premier college football player in 1972. On Tuesday he became the 12th Cornhusker player to be elected to the National Football Foundation�s Hall of Fame. He will be honored at a banquet in New York in December and his enshrinement will take place in South Bend, Indiana in August, 2001.

At a press conference in New York announcing the election Rodgers acknowledged the help of his teammates in earning the honor. "You don't win a Heisman Trophy by yourself. You don't win a national championship by yourself. And you don't go into the Hall of Fame by what you did yourself.� Rodgers said.

College Football players are eligible to election to the shrine ten years after their college eligibility ends and at the conclusion of their pro career. Rodgers played for the Huskers from 1970-72 before undertaking a brief pro career with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League and with the San Diego Chargers of the NFL. A player�s post-football career is also considered in the election. Rodgers had his share of troubles and brushes with the law after his college days. He set himself right, though, and in 1993 he returned to the Nebraska campus to earn his college degree.

Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers was considered the catalyst in one of the greatest college football dynasties ever assembled. During his career the Huskers went 32-2-2. His crowning moment occurred in the 1971 game against Oklahoma when he returned a first quarter punt 72-yards for the game�s first touchdown. That play was recently voted by Husker fans as the greatest Husker play of all time.

In his three-year career he racked up 5,586 all-purpose yards for an NCAA record. He holds most Husker career receiving records. In 1972 he won the Heisman Trophy, out-distancing Gregg Pruitt of Oklahoma and teammate Rich Glover. Glover was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1995.

Other Husker players currently in the Hall of Fame include Forrest Behm (tackle 1938-40), Bob Brown (guard 1961-63), Guy Chamberlin (end, 1911-15), Sam Francis (fullback 1934-36), Wayne Mehlan (guard 1965-67), Bobby Reynolds (halfback 1950-52), Dave Rimington (center 1979-82), George sauer (fullback 1931-33), Clarence Swanson (end 1918-21) and Ed Weier (tackle 1923-25). Six Husker coaches are enshrined in the Hall including Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne.

Johnny Rogers