IRVING, Texas (Oct. 13, 2021) – The University of Minnesota and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor 2020 College Football Hall of Fame electee Bob Stein with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments. The Salute will take place this Saturday, Oct. 16, during the Golden Gophers' home football game against Nebraska. Coverage of the game will start at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2.
 
"To get included in this group, I am humbled and honored," Stein said in an NFF video capturing the surprise announcement in March 2020. "It's one of the greatest things I can imagine in my life."
 
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 the Hall of Fame experience.
 
During the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, each electee returns to his respective school to accept a Hall of Fame plaque that will stay on permanent display at the institution. The events take place on the field during a home game, and many Hall of Famers cite the experience as the ultimate capstone to their careers, providing them one more chance to take the field and be recognized in front of their home crowd.
 
The 2020 and 2021 College Football Hall of Fame Classes will be officially inducted during the 63rd NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas Dec. 7 at the ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas. (The 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19.)
 
"The quintessential student-athlete at Minnesota, Bob Stein matched All-America honors on the field with NFF National Scholar-Athlete recognition," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "We are thrilled to honor him at TCF Bank Stadium."
 
A First Team All-America defensive end in 1967, Stein also garnered Walter Camp First Team All-America honors in 1968 (team not recognized by the NCAA until 1972). The two-time First Team All-Big Ten selection led Minnesota to a share of the 1967 conference title. The 1967 squad finished with a No. 14 ranking in the coaches poll after posting an 8-2 record that included a dominant win over fifth-ranked and Rose Bowl-bound Indiana.
 
Although defensive stats were not recorded at the time, Stein is credited with five tackles for loss against Iowa in 1966, which rank as the second most in a single-game in the Golden Gophers record book. Also serving as the team's kicker, his 40-yard field goal in 1968 was a school record at the time, and he led the team in kicker scoring with 20 points in 1967.
 
An NFF National Scholar-Athlete in 1968, Stein was a two-time Academic All-American and received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. The three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree was a semifinalist for a Rhodes Scholarship in 1968. Stein is enshrined in the University of Minnesota Sports, National Jewish Sports and St. Louis Park High School (MN) halls of fame.
 
A fifth-round draft pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1969, Stein played four seasons for the franchise and helped the team win Super Bowl IV following his rookie season. He also played for the Los Angeles Rams (1973-74) before splitting the 1975 season between the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers.
 
While playing for the Chiefs, Stein graduated in the top 10% of his class from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. As the founding president and CEO of the Minnesota Timberwolves from 1987-95, he helped secure the NBA franchise while developing a new arena and overseeing the team's charitable foundation.
 
He currently works as an attorney at his own law firm in Minneapolis, Bob Stein LLC. A member of the NFF Minnesota Chapter Board of Directors, Stein previously served on the boards of the Children's Cancer Research Fund and the University of Minnesota National Alumni Association, among others.
 
An NFF Veterans Committee selection, Stein becomes the 19th Golden Gopher player in the College Football Hall of Fame, joining Bert Baston (1914-16), Bobby Bell (1960-62), Tom Brown (1958-60), Carl Eller (1961-63), George "Sonny" Franck (1938-40), Paul Giel (1951-53), Herb Joesting (1925-27), Pug Lund (1932-34), Bobby Marshall (1904-06), John McGovern (1908-10), Bronko Nagurski (1927-29), Leo Nomellini, (1946-49), Eddie Rogers (1896-98, 1900-03), Bruce Smith (1939-41), Sandy Stephens (1959-61), Clayton Tonnemaker (1946-49), Ed Widseth (1934-36) and Dick Wildung (1940-42).
 
Four former Minnesota coaches are also in the Hall: Bernie Bierman (1932-41, 1945-50), Fritz Crisler (1930-31), Lou Holtz (1984-85) and Henry Williams (1900-21).
 
The 2020 College Football Hall of Fame Class includes Lomas Brown (Florida), Keith Byars (Ohio State), Eric Crouch (Nebraska), Eric Dickerson (SMU), Glenn Dorsey (LSU), John "Jumbo" Elliott (Michigan), Jason Hanson (Washington State), E.J. Henderson (Maryland), E.J. Junior (Alabama), Steve McNair (Alcorn State), Cade McNown (UCLA), Leslie O'Neal (Oklahoma State), Anthony Poindexter (Virginia), David Pollack (Georgia), Bob Stein (Minnesota), Michael Westbrook (Colorado), Elmo Wright (Houston) and coaches Dick Sheridan (Furman, North Carolina State), and Andy Talley (St. Lawrence [NY], Villanova).
 
The 2021 College Football Hall of Fame Class includes Harris Barton (North Carolina), David Fulcher (Arizona State), Dan Morgan (Miami [FL]), Carson Palmer (Southern California), Tony Romo (Eastern Illinois), Kenneth Sims (Texas), C.J. Spiller (Clemson), Darren Sproles (Kansas State), Aaron Taylor (Notre Dame), Andre Tippett (Iowa), Al Wilson (Tennessee) and coaches Rudy Hubbard (Florida A&M) and Bob Stoops (Oklahoma).
 
The accomplishments of both classes will be forever immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, and each inductee will receive a custom ring created by Jostens, the official and exclusive supplier of NFF rings.
 
Including the 2020 and 2021 Hall of Fame Classes, only 1,038 players and 223 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.47 million who have played or coached the game during the past 152 years. In other words, less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of the individuals who have played the game have earned this distinction.
 
   
Date – Honoree (Hall of Fame Class) – School (Opponent)

• Oct. 16 – Harris Barton (2021) – North Carolina (vs. Miami [FL])
• Oct. 16 – Jason Hanson (2020) – Washington State (vs. Stanford)
• Oct. 16 – Anthony Poindexter (2020) – Virginia (vs. Duke)
• Oct. 16 – Coach Dick Sheridan (2020) – Furman (vs. The Citadel)
• Oct. 16 – Bob Stein (2020) – Minnesota (vs. Nebraska)
• Oct. 23 – E.J. Junior (2020) – Alabama (vs. Tennessee)
• Oct. 23 – Cade McNown (2020) – UCLA (vs. Oregon)
• Oct. 30 – Keith Byars (2020) – Ohio State (vs. Penn State)
• Oct. 30 – E.J. Henderson (2020) – Maryland (vs. Indiana)
• Oct. 30 – Coach Dick Sheridan (2020) – NC State (vs. Louisville)
• Nov. 6 – David Fulcher (2021) – Arizona State (vs. Southern California)
• Nov. 13 – Steve McNair (2020) – Alcorn State (vs. Prairie View A&M)*
• Nov. 13 – Coach Andy Talley (2020) – Villanova (vs. Stony Brook)
• Nov. 13 – Andre Tippett (2021) – Iowa (vs. Minnesota)
• Nov. 20 – Dan Morgan (2021) – Miami [FL] (vs. Virginia Tech)
• Nov. 26 – Kenneth Sims (2021) – Texas (vs. Kansas State)
• Nov. 27 – Lomas Brown (2020) – Florida (vs. Florida State)
• Nov. 27 – Eric Dickerson (2020) – SMU (vs. Tulsa)
• Nov. 27 – Glenn Dorsey (2020) – LSU (vs. Texas A&M)

* Tentative
 
Fidelity Investments has served as the national presenting sponsor of the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes since 2010. 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 it 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 $11.2 trillion, including discretionary assets of $4.3 trillion as of August 31, 2021, we focus on meeting the unique needs of a diverse set of customers: helping more than 38 million people invest their own life savings, 22,000 businesses manage employee benefit programs, as well as providing more than 13,500 wealth management firms and institutions with investment and technology solutions to drive growth. Privately held for more than 75 years, Fidelity employs more than 52,000 associates who are focused on the long-term success of our customers. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit http://www.fidelity.com/about-fidelity/our-company.

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 the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Future for Football, The William V. Campbell Trophy®, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Catapult, Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Goodyear, Jostens, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the New York Athletic Club and the Sports Business Journal. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork and learn more at footballfoundation.org.