UCLA and the National Football Foundation will jointly honor Jonathan Ogden, a 2012 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, as the Bruins host Southern California.

DALLAS, Nov. 14, 2012 – UCLA and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor All-American offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments^®, Nov. 17 in the Rose Bowl during the game between the Bruins and Southern California. Coverage of the game will start 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports.

"I am extremely excited and honored to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame," said Ogden at the time of the announcement in May. "I would like to thank all those associated with UCLA for making my time there productive and exciting on and off the field. I hope to continue representing the university well. "

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.

“Jonathan Ogden was a game changer,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “Massive, smart and exceptionally athletic, he dominated the offensive line every time he stepped on the field, dwarfing his opponents and paving the way for the UCLA running game and passing attack as he humbly went about coming one of the greatest players of all-time. We look forward to celebrating his Hall of Fame career with the Bruin faithful this weekend.”

A unanimous All-American and the winner of the Outland Trophy in 1995, Ogden was a cornerstone left tackle all four years he spent as a Bruin from 1992-95. He won the Morris Trophy as the Pac-10’s top offensive lineman, the UPI Lineman of the Year award and shared the Henry “Red” Sanders Award as the Bruins’ most valuable player as a senior in 1995. The four-year starter allowed just one sack as a senior.

Ogden experienced success early during his years in Westwood, earning the John Boncheff, Jr. Memorial Award as UCLA’s top freshman and a Freshman All-America nod from The Sporting News. Playing for College Football Hall of Fame coach Terry Donahue, he also helped the Bruins win the Pac-10 title in 1993. Ogden’s No. 79 jersey is one of eight to be retired by UCLA. A two-sport athlete, he earned two top-five finishes in shot-put at the NCAA Indoor Championships and also placed fourth in shot-put at the 1995 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

The fourth overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft, Ogden played 12 seasons for the Baltimore Ravens. He started 176-of-177 games; earned First Team All-Pro honors four times; and appeared in 11 Pro Bowls. Ogden helped the Ravens win Super Bowl XXXV.

He founded the Jonathan Ogden Foundation, which aims to assist inner-city students through athletics, and the foundation supported the NFF’s Play It Smart program at Patterson HS in Baltimore for many years. The Henderson, Nev., resident also established the Ogden Club, which hires tutors to work with Baltimore City high schools, and in turn enlists high school athletes to tutor at local elementary schools. Ogden stages the Jonathan Ogden Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament, benefitting youths in Las Vegas and Baltimore.

Ogden becomes the 11th UCLA player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame,  joining (listed with year of induction)  Kenny Washington (1956), Donn Moomaw (1973), Tom Fears (1976), Al Sparlis (1983), Gary Beban (1988), Kenny Easley (1991), Jerry Robinson (1996), Billy Kilmer (1999), Troy Aikman (2008), and Randy Cross (2010). Hall of Fame coaches who headed the UCLA program include Tommy Prothro (1991), Red Sanders (1996) and Terry Donahue (2000).

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.