IRVING, Texas (Aug. 29, 2018) – Rice University and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor 2018 electee Trevor Cobb with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments. The Salute will take place this Saturday, Sept. 1, during the Owls' game against Houston. Coverage of the game will start at 11 a.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.
 
"It's great," Cobb said when the class was announced in January. "It's surreal. I want to thank Rice University, my teammates, the fans, my family and friends (and) the City of Houston…I'm just lost for words really. It's a proud moment for the University and for my family. It means a great deal. Hopefully, it leaves a legacy of inspiration. It goes to show that if you work hard, you can achieve anything. I'm just so happy that this honor was bestowed upon me. It really hasn't sunk in yet. I guess that's going to take a while."
 
The NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute program, which began with the inaugural College Football Hall of Fame Class in 1951, has become a hallowed tradition, and to this day the singular events 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 or college where he coached 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.
 
"Trevor Cobb is one of the all-time great running backs to have played in the Southwest Conference," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "He ran his way into the record books at Rice and took home the Doak Walker Award as the best back in the country. He is truly worthy of induction, and we are thrilled to honor him at Rice Stadium."
 
Holding nearly every rushing record in Rice history, Cobb was a consensus First Team All-American in 1991, and became the first Owl to win one of college football's major individual awards when he received that season's Doak Walker Award as the best running back in the nation. A finalist for the award again as a senior, he went on to be named the 1992 Southwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year (across all sports) after leading Rice to its first winning season in 30 years.
 
A three-time all-conference selection, he completed his career ranked second on the SWC career rushing list with 4,948 yards, which ranked eighth on the NCAA career list at the time and now ranks 24th in NCAA history.
 
Cobb became the first Owl and fourth SWC player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons, and he holds the top three season totals in school history, capped by his 1,692 yards in 1991. Cobb's other conference career records include all-purpose yards (6,512), rushing attempts (1,091) and 200-yard games in a season (6).
 
He also set 17 school records, including season and career marks for rushing attempts (306/1,091), career rushing touchdowns (38) and career 100-yard games (24). The recipient of the 1992 SWC American Spirit Award for achievement on and off the field, Cobb held Rice's season and career scoring marks until 2008.
 
After his collegiate career, Cobb played in the 1993 Senior Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game and had a stint in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Bears. The Houston native also played for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe in 1996.
 
As the director of his non-profit, Trevor Cobb's Helping Hands in Houston, he participates in numerous civic events and mentors young athletes to be well-rounded and educated while promoting young people's understanding and attitudes towards those with special needs.
 
A member of the State of Texas Sports and the Southwest Conference halls of fame, Cobb was selected as a 2017 "Honor Jersey" at Rice where a member of the current team wore No. 45 in his honor during the season. He returned to college and received his bachelor's degree in 2001.
 
Cobb becomes the seventh Owl player to be inducted, joining Buddy Dial (1956-58), Weldon Humble (1941-43, 1946), Tommy Kramer (1973-76), Dick Maegle (1952-54), Bill Wallace (1932, 1934-35) and James Williams (1946-49). Two former Rice coaches are also in the Hall: John Heisman (1924-27) and Jess Neely (1940-66).
 
Including the 2018 class, only 997 players and 217 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.33 million people who have played or coached the game over the past 149 years. In other words, less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of those who have set foot on the gridiron have earned the distinction.
 
The 2018 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the New York Hilton Midtown on Tuesday, Dec. 4. This year's College Football Hall of Fame Class includes: Trevor Cobb (Rice), Kerry Collins (Penn State), Dave Dickenson (Montana), Dana Howard (Illinois), Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech), Paul Palmer (Temple), Ed Reed (Miami [Fla.]), Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia), Aaron Taylor (Nebraska), Charles Woodson (Michigan) and coaches Frank Beamer (Murray State, Virginia Tech), Mack Brown (Appalachian State, Tulane, North Carolina, Texas) and Mel Tjeerdsma (Austin College [Texas], Northwest Missouri State). For more information on the Dinner, please contact Will Rudd at wrudd@footballfoundation.com or by calling 972.556.1000.
 
The 2018 Class will also be forever immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
 

Remaining Scheduled 2018 NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes
Presented by Fidelity Investments

 

DATE	INDUCTEE	SCHOOL (YEARS PLAYED/COACHED)	OPPOSING TEAM
Aug. 30	Coach Mack Brown	Tulane (1985-87)	Wake Forest
Sept. 1	Trevor Cobb	Rice (1989-92)	Houston
Sept. 1	Dana Howard	Illinois (1991-94)	Kent State
Sept. 1	Paul Palmer	Temple (1983-86)	Villanova
Sept. 15	Coach Mel Tjeerdsma	Northwest Missouri State (1994-2010)	Missouri Southern
Sept. 22	Dave Dickenson	Montana (1992-95)	Sacramento State
Sept. 22	Coach Mel Tjeerdsma	Austin College [Texas] (1984-93)	Hendrix [Ark.]
Sept. 29	Kerry Collins	Penn State (1991-94)	Ohio State
Oct. 6	Coach Frank Beamer	Virginia Tech (1987-2015)	Notre Dame
Oct. 6	Ed Reed	Miami [Fla.] (1998-2001)	Florida State
Oct. 13	Coach Frank Beamer	Murray State (1981-86)	Tennessee State
Oct. 20	Aaron Taylor	Nebraska (1994-97)	Minnesota
Nov. 10	Calvin Johnson	Georgia Tech (2004-06)	Miami [Fla.]
Nov. 10	Matt Stinchcomb	Georgia (1995-98)	Auburn

 
 
The 2018 season marks the ninth season that Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of workplace savings plans in higher education, 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.
 
Fidelity is a proud partner of The William V. Campbell Trophy^®, college football's premier scholar-athlete award, and the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards. Fidelity also helped launch the NFF Faculty Salutes in 2011, which recognizes the contributions of the faculty athletics representatives around the country.
 
 
About Fidelity Investments
Fidelity's mission is to inspire better futures and deliver better outcomes for the customers and businesses we serve. With assets under administration of $7.2 trillion, including managed assets of $2.6 trillion as of July 31, 2018, we focus on meeting the unique needs of a diverse set of customers: helping more than 27 million people invest their own life savings, 23,000 businesses manage employee benefit programs, as well as providing more than 12,500 financial advisory firms with investment and technology solutions to invest their own clients' money. Privately held for 70 years, Fidelity employs more than 40,000 associates who are focused on the long-term success of our customers. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit https://www.fidelity.com/about.
 
About The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include Football Matters^®, the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, The William V. Campbell Trophy^®, annual scholarships of more than $1.3 million and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments – a proud partner of the Campbell Trophy^®, Herff Jones, New York Athletic Club, the SportsBusiness Journal, SportsManias, Under Armour and VICIS. Learn more at footballfoundation.org.