National Football Foundation

Position: Wide Receiver 
Years: 1990-93 
Place of Birth: Baltimore, Maryland 
Date of Birth: April 26, 1971 
Jersey Number: 16 
Height: 6-2 
Weight: 195 
High School: Rich East (Park Forest, IL)  

Ryan Yarborough was an explosive playmaker at Wyoming whose ability to make clutch catches and stretch the field helped make him one of the most prolific receivers in college football history. The Park Forest, Illinois, product now becomes the third player from Wyoming to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.
 
A two-time First Team All-American, Yarborough led the nation in receiving yards in both 1992 (1,351) and 1993 (1,512). He set NCAA marks at the time for the most career receiving yards (4,357—still ranks ninth), 200-plus yard receiving games (7), most 1,000-yard receiving seasons in a career (3), and the most games catching a touchdown pass in a career (27).
 
He still holds the NCAA record for yards per reception (minimum of 200 catches), averaging 19.0 yards for his 229 career receptions. His 42 career touchdown receptions still rank eighth all-time, and his average of 137.5 receiving yards per game in 1993 still ranks him among the top 30 in history.
 
Playing for coaches Paul Roach his freshman season and Joe Tiller the next three years, Yarborough helped the Cowboys to a 26-21 overall record, including appearances in the 1990 and 1993 Copper Bowls and an 8-4 record in 1993 with a share of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) title.
 
Yarborough was a dominant force in the WAC, earning First Team All-WAC honors in both 1992 and 1993. He led Wyoming in receiving for three straight years from 1991 to 1993 and broke nearly every significant school receiving record, including the single-season mark for receiving yards with 1,512 in 1993, the single-season record for touchdown receptions with 16, and the career record for touchdown receptions with 42.
 
Selected in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft by the Jets, Yarborough played six seasons in the NFL with Jets, Packers, Ravens and Saints. He was inducted into the Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. He currently works as a coach and business consultant in the Houston area.