IRVING, Texas (Oct. 2, 2019) – Ole Miss and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor 2019 electee Patrick Willis with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments. The Salute will take place this Saturday, Oct. 5, during the Rebels' Homecoming football game against Vanderbilt. Coverage of the game will start at 6:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
 
"It's truly a blessing," Willis told ABC7 News in San Francisco during a segment on the field before the College Football Playoff National Championship in January. "I'm truly grateful. There are a lot of guys who played college football who are very deserving, and for me to be one of these guys to be added to the College Hall of Fame – I'm truly blessed."
 
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.
 
"Patrick Willis had one of the best careers in Ole Miss history that he capped off by winning the Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "He is truly worthy of the College Football Hall of Fame, and we are thrilled to honor him at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium."
 
A consensus First Team All-American in 2006, Willis took home both the Butkus Award and the Jack Lambert Award as the best linebacker in the country. The 2006 SEC Defensive Player of the Year and SEC Most Valuable Lineman was also a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation's top defensive player.
 
A two-time First Team All-SEC selection, Willis also earned honorable mention laurels in 2004, and he led the conference in tackles as both a junior (128) and senior (137). As a junior, his 9.0 solo tackles per game led the nation while his 12.8 total tackles per game ranked sixth.
 
During his senior campaign, he averaged 11.4 tackles per game, which also ranked sixth in the nation, while his 7.25 solo tackles per game were the third best. As a freshman in 2003, Willis helped the Rebels to a share of the SEC West title, a victory in the 2004 Cotton Bowl and a No. 13 final ranking.
 
The senior team captain ranks sixth all-time at Ole Miss with 355 career tackles, and he is tied for fifth with 33 career tackles for loss. Willis was the recipient of the 2006 Conerly Trophy as the best college football player in the state of Mississippi and the Ole Miss Chucky Mullins Courage Award. The Bruceton, Tennessee, native ended his collegiate career as the Defensive MVP for the South Team in the 2007 Senior Bowl.
 
Willis matched his on-field success in the classroom, earning Academic All-SEC honors and receiving the 2007 Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award. A 2015 inductee into the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame, he was selected to SI.com's All-Decade Team of the 2000s.
 
The 11th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, Willis played eight seasons for the San Francisco 49ers. The 2007 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and seven-time Pro Bowl selection twice led the NFL in tackles and won the professional Butkus Award in 2009.
 
Overcoming adversity, Willis was able to find success on and off the field despite an unstable upbringing where he was forced to raise his three younger siblings. A member of the 2006 SEC Community Service Team, he was active in reading, mentorship and food drive programs during his time at Ole Miss.
 
Since his retirement from the NFL, Willis has been a technology investor in Silicon Valley and remains active with local charities.
 
Willis becomes the ninth Rebel player to be inducted, joining Charlie Conerly (1942, 1946-47), Charlie Flowers (1957-59), Jake Gibbs (1958-60), Parker Hall (1936-38), Bruiser Kinard (1935-37), Archie Manning (1968-70), Barney Poole (1942, 1947-48) and Wesley Walls (1985-88).
 
Former Ole Miss coach Johnny Vaught, who guided the Rebels football team from 1947-70 and as interim coach in 1973, is also in the Hall.
 
Including the 2019 class, only 1,010 players and 219 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.4 million people who have played or coached the game over the past 150 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. Click here for a complete list of players and coaches in the Hall.
 
The 2019 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 62nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the New York Hilton Midtown on Tuesday, Dec. 10. This year's College Football Hall of Fame Class includes: Terrell Buckley (Florida State), Rickey Dixon (Oklahoma), London Fletcher (John Carroll [OH]), Jacob Green (Texas A&M), Torry Holt (North Carolina State), Raghib "Rocket" Ismail (Notre Dame), Darren McFadden (Arkansas), Jake Plummer (Arizona State), Troy Polamalu (Southern California), Joe Thomas (Wisconsin), Lorenzo White (Michigan State), Patrick Willis (Ole Miss), Vince Young (Texas) and coaches Dennis Erickson (Idaho, Wyoming, Washington State, Miami [FL], Oregon State, Arizona State) and Joe Taylor (Howard, Virginia Union, Hampton, Florida A&M). For more information on the Dinner, please contact Will Rudd at wrudd@footballfoundation.com or by calling 972.556.1000.
 
The 2019 Class will also be honored during the 15th Annual National Hall of Fame Salute at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 28, and they will be forever immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
 

Remaining Scheduled 2019 NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes
Presented by Fidelity Investments

 

DATE	INDUCTEE	SCHOOL (YEARS PLAYED/COACHED)	OPPOSING TEAM
Oct. 5	Patrick Willis	Ole Miss (2003-06)	Vanderbilt
Oct. 10	Torry Holt	NC State (1995-98)	Syracuse
Oct. 12	Jacob Green	Texas A&M (1977-79)	Alabama
Oct. 12	Joe Thomas	Wisconsin (2003-06)	Michigan State
Oct. 19	Coach Dennis Erickson	Miami [FL] (1989-94)	Georgia Tech
Oct. 19	Darren McFadden	Arkansas (2005-07)	Auburn
Oct. 19	Coach Joe Taylor	Virginia Union (1984-91)	Chowan (NC)
Nov. 2	Raghib "Rocket" Ismail	Notre Dame (1988-90)	Virginia Tech
Nov. 9	Jake Plummer	Arizona State (1993-96)	Southern California

 
The 2019 season marks the 10th 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 also the presenting sponsor of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards and helped launch the NFF Faculty Salutes in 2011, which recognize 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 $7.8 trillion, including managed assets of $2.8 trillion as of July 31, 2019, we focus on meeting the unique needs of a diverse set of customers: helping more than 30 million people invest their own life savings, 22,000 businesses manage employee benefit programs, as well as providing more than 13,500 financial advisory firms with investment and technology solutions to invest their own clients' money. Privately held for more than 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® Presented by Mazda, 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, Goodyear, Herff Jones, Mazda, New York Athletic Club, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Sports Business Journal, SportsManias, Under Armour and VICIS. Learn more at footballfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork.