DALLAS, Oct. 25, 2012 – Kansas State and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor Mark Simoneau with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments^®, Oct. 27 in Manhattan during the game between the Wildcats and Texas Tech. Coverage of the game will start 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

“Being the first player under Coach Snyder to be elected to the Hall of Fame is truly humbling,” Simoneau said at the time of the announcement in May. “As a small town kid from Smith Center, Kan., I never could have dreamed of such an honor, but it shows that with hard work and a dream, anything is possible.”

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.

“Mark established himself as one of the greatest linebackers to ever play at Kansas State,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “He established himself as an unselfish player known for his tenacity and mental toughness, leading the Wildcats to some of the best seasons in school history, including the 1997 Fiesta Bowl and an appearance in the 1998 Big 12 title game. We look forward to honoring him and celebrating his stellar career with the K-State faithful this weekend.”

A two-time All-American, Mark Simoneau played linebacker for the Wildcats from 1996-99, and he was named captain three times. He holds a school record with 251 career unassisted tackles, and he ranks third in school history with 400 total tackles, 52 TFL and eight forced fumbles.

The 1999 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year also notched 15.5 sacks and seven fumble recoveries. A 1999 Butkus Award runner-up and a three-time First Team All-Big 12 selection, he led Kansas State to one of the greatest stretches in school history. With Simoneau on the roster, the Wildcats earned a 42-7 record, a 28-4 record in Big 12 play, a claim to two Big 12 North titles, three AP top 10 finishes, the first No. 1 ranking in school history, and wins in the 1997 Fiesta Bowl and the 1999 Holiday Bowl. 

Drafted in the third round of the 2000 NFL Draft, Simoneau played 11 seasons for the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs. He recorded 370 total tackles in 124 career NFL games. He has participated in service events with local children’s hospitals, retirement homes and the United Way of New Orleans. Simoneau’s high school was the center piece of the book Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen by Joe Drape.

Simoneau becomes the second Wildcat to enter the hall, joining Gary Spani who was inducted in 2002. Two coaches with stints in Manhattan are in the College Football Hall of Fame, Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf, a 1966 inductee, and Charlie Bachman, a 1978 inductee. Including the 2012 FBS class, only 918 players and 200 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly five million people who have played or coached the game over the past 144 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. For a complete list of players and coaches in the hall, please visit www.collegefootball.org.

The 2012 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted at the 55^th NFF Annual Awards Dinner, held at New York City’s historic Waldorf=Astoria Hotel on Tuesday, December 4. This year’s hall of fame class includes: Charles Alexander (LSU), Otis Armstrong (Purdue), Steve Bartkowski (California), Hal Bedsole (Southern California), Dave Casper (Notre Dame), Ty Detmer (BYU), Tommy Kramer (Rice), Art Monk (Syracuse), Greg Myers (Colorado State), Jonathan Ogden (UCLA), Gabe Rivera (Texas Tech), Mark Simoneau (Kansas State), Scott Thomas (Air Force), John Wooten (Colorado), and coaches Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee), Jimmy Johnson (Oklahoma State, Miami [Fla.]) and R.C. Slocum (Texas A&M). For more information, please contact Will Rudd at wrudd@footballfoundation.com or by calling 972-556-1000.

Remaining 2012 NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes

Presented by Fidelity Investments

(Listed in Chronological Order) 

The 2012 season marks the third 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. 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.