IRVING, Texas (Aug. 30, 2018) – The University of Illinois and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor 2018 electee Dana Howard with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments. The Salute will take place this Saturday, Sept. 1, during the Fighting Illini's game against Kent State. Coverage of the game will start at 11 a.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.
 
"I am so honored and humbled to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2018," Howard said in an Illinois release after the announcement of the class in January. "I want to thank God for blessing me with the ability. I praise my mom and dad for always telling me there are no limits in life, only the ones you put on yourself. Thanks to my family and friends who have been there since day one. An extra special thanks to my wife, the Bonnie to my Clyde. Thanks to the city of East St. Louis - all 89 blocks."
 
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.
 
"Dana Howard was a tackling machine during his time at Illinois," said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. "He was the program's first major award winner, and he has cemented himself as an Illini legend. We are thrilled to honor him at Memorial Stadium."
 
Howard became the first player in school history to earn a major national award when he received 1994 Butkus Award as the best linebacker in the nation.
 
A two-time First Team All-American, Howard earned unanimous honors as a senior in 1994. The two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year remains Illinois' all-time leading tackler with 595 career stops, which was a Big Ten record at the end of his Fighting Illini tenure.
 
A four-time All-Big Ten honoree, Howard earned First Team recognition in his last three seasons after making the Second Team as a freshman. The 1994 team captain and two-time team MVP, he led Illinois in tackles all four seasons of his career, and all four marks still rank among the school's top 10 single-season tackling performances.
 
The East St. Louis, Ill., native owns three of the Illini's top four spots for single-game solo tackles, including the record of 20 that he set against Ohio State during his freshman season. Also ranked third in school history with eight career forced fumbles, Howard helped Illinois to three bowl berths, including a shutout win over East Carolina in the 1994 Liberty Bowl.
 
A fifth round selection by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1995 NFL Draft, Howard had stints with the St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears. He also played for the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe.
 
Howard is a member of several foundations in the East St. Louis, Ill., area, including the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation. An avid guest speaker, he also helps organize the City of Champions Football Classic to benefit the East St. Louis school district. Howard currently owns Zoie LLC DBA Dana Howard Construction Company based in Belleville, Ill.
 
Howard becomes the 12th Fighting Illini player to be inducted, joining Alex Agase (1941-42, 1946), Al Brosky (1950-52), Dick Butkus (1962-64), Chuck Carney (1918-21), J.C. Caroline (1953-54), Jim Grabowski (1963-65), Red Grange (1923-25), Bart Macomber (1914-16), Bernie Shively (1924-26), David Williams (1983-85) and Buddy Young (1944, 1946).
 
Four former Illinois coaches are also in the Hall: Bob Blackman (1971-76), Ed Hall (1892-93), George Woodruff (1903) and Bob Zuppke (1913-41).
 
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 Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Sports Business Journal, SportsManias, Under Armour and VICIS. Learn more at footballfoundation.org.