In April, the National Football Foundation announced Pervis Atkins’ induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, which will take place Dec. 8 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City during the 52nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner.
By NFF Correspondent Steve Richardson
Pervis Atkins took a circuitous route to New Mexico State University and First Team All-America status.
Born in Ruston, La., in 1935, he moved to Oakland, Calif., in the early 1940s. After attending Technical High School, Atkins enrolled at San Francisco State for a semester and a half and ran track before joining the Marines. After three years in the military where he also logged time playing on a football team, he spent a semester at Santa Ana College.
Then, literally came the ride of his life when he decided to take a buddy to Las Cruces, New Mexico. When he arrived, Atkins was introduced to New Mexico State head football coach Warren Woodson, who was just beginning his coaching tenure with the Aggies after stops at Central Arkansas, Hardin-Simmons and Arizona.
“Warren Woodson and I talked it up,” Atkins recalled. “And he asked me what I was going to do. And that evolved into a scholarship because I had a couple years to finish school.”
Three years later, Atkins, after being showcased in New Mexico State’s explosive offense, had transformed himself from an athletic nomad to a third-round NFL draft pick, and his epic runs began a trend that would help New Mexico State make major-college history with four straight players leading the nation in rushing from 1959-62.
“He (Woodson) ran the Wing T, and he had best quarterback in the country, Charlie Johnson,” Atkins said. “Johnson later would play for the St. Louis Cardinals and was traded to Denver and played for Houston. He was an amazing athlete. He is a scratch golfer now. He was a three-point basketball shooter. I don’t know how they (other schools) missed him.”
With Johnson at the helm, Atkins put his maturity, fast hands, speed and all those years in the military to use. He also caught a break when Bob Gaiters, who would lead the country in rushing in 1960, suffered an injury.
“And they gave me the ball,” said Atkins who would also play flanker for the Aggies. “I wanted to be quarterback, but he (Johnson) was just too good of a quarterback. I was a class sprinter. That is pretty much the entire story. If Bob hadn’t gotten hurt he would have been running the ball, and I would have caught them.”
New Mexico State posted an 8-3 record in 1959 and beat North Texas, 28-8, in the Sun Bowl. A year later, when Atkins was a senior and Gaiters had returned, the team went 11-0 and toppled Utah State, 20-13, in the Sun Bowl again and finished among the Top 20 teams in both major polls.
“The year we were 11-0, we had a 160-pound middle linebacker who would either hurt you or himself all day long,” Atkins said. “He didn’t hurt himself any of the time. He would stick it too you all day long. All of sudden professional scouts started watching our games. We had a lot of good football players. And Warren Woodson was quite an interesting man. He had a staff of four and that was it.”
After retiring from the NFL, Atkins worked in sports television, later joining the Ashley-Famous Talent Agency and ABC Television. He then founded his own talent agency, Atkins and Associates. He still resides in Los Angeles.
* Led the nation in rushing and punt return yardage in 1959.
* Still New Mexico State’s only first-team All-America selection and a two-time All-Conference selection.
* Topped the country in all-purpose yardage average per game in 1959 and 1960.
* Drafted in the third round of the 1960 NFL Draft by Los Angeles, playing seven seasons in the pros with the Rams, Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders.
The 52nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner will take place at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on Dec. 8, 2009. Please contact Will Rudd at wrudd@footballfoundation.com or 972-556-1000 to purchase tickets or for more details.
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