IRVING, Texas (Nov. 23, 2021) – SMU and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor 2020 College Football Hall of Fame electee Eric Dickerson with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments. The Salute will take place this Saturday, Nov. 27, during the Mustangs' home football game against Tulsa. Coverage of the game will start at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
 
"This couldn't have come at a better time," Dickerson told the Houston Chronicle in March 2020. "I have a 7-year-old son now who loves football. I have a 14-year-old daughter and a 33-year-old daughter who were able to see me get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So, I will appreciate this now that I'm older. Someone asked me lately if I enjoyed college, high school or pro football more. I said college and high school. So, this means a lot to me, starting at Sealy High School and then going to SMU."
 
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 leader of SMU's famed 'Pony Express,' Eric Dickerson owns nearly every school rushing record and launched the Mustangs into national prominence," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "We are thrilled to honor him at Gerald J. Ford Stadium."

A unanimous First Team All-American in 1982, Dickerson finished third for the Heisman Trophy after guiding SMU to a No. 2 final ranking and an 11-0-1 record. The two-time Southwest Conference Player of the Year led the Mustangs to back-to-back conference titles in 1981 and 1982 and a victory over Pittsburgh in the 1983 Cotton Bowl Classic.
 
The game was SMU's first Cotton Bowl appearance since 1966, and it marked its first win in the fabled game since 1949. Dickerson earned Second Team All-America honors in 1981 after helping SMU to a No. 5 final ranking and a 10-1 record.
 
SMU's all-time leading rusher with 4,450 career yards, Dickerson owns 12 other school records, including single-season rushing yards (1,617 in 1982), career rushing touchdowns (47) and career 100-yard rushing games (28). He is also tied atop the Mustang record books with College Football Hall of Famer Doak Walker with 288 career points.
 
A two-time First Team All-Southwest Conference selection, Dickerson twice led the conference in both rushing and scoring, and he ranks third in SWC history in career rushing yards. He is enshrined in the SMU Athletics, Cotton Bowl, Southwest Conference and State of Texas Sports halls of fame. A co-recipient of the 2010 Doak Walker Legends Award alongside his former Mustangs teammate Craig James, Dickerson had his No. 19 jersey retired by SMU in 2000.
 
A six-time Pro Bowler, Dickerson was selected second overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1983 NFL Draft, playing 11 years with the Rams (1983-87), Indianapolis Colts (1987-91), Los Angeles Raiders (1992) and Atlanta Falcons (1993). A 1999 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, he owns the NFL single-season rushing record (1984) and remains in the top 10 in career rushing yards.  A member of the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, Dickerson is recognized in the Colts Ring of Honor and had his jersey retired by the Rams.
 
Off the field, he established the Eric Dickerson Foundation, which is dedicated to providing opportunities to disadvantaged youth through education. An entrepreneur, Dickerson previously worked as a sideline reporter for "Monday Night Football," and he can currently be seen as an NFL analyst on FOX Sports.
 
Dickerson becomes the seventh Mustang player in the College Football Hall of Fame, joining Jerry LeVias (1966-68), Gerald Mann (1925-27), Don Meredith (1957-59), Kyle Rote (1948-50), Doak Walker (1945, 1947-49) and Bobby Wilson (1933-35).
 
Three former SMU coaches are also in the Hall: Matty Bell (1935-41, 1945-49), Hayden Fry (1962-72) and Ray Morrison (1915-16, 1922-34).
 
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)

• 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)

 
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 $11.6 trillion, including discretionary assets of $4.4 trillion as of October 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 75 years, Fidelity employs more than 55,000 associates who are focused on the long-term success of our customers. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit https://www.fidelity.com/about-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.