MICHAEL BISHOP
Kansas State University
Quarterback, 1997-98
 
Michael Bishop came home one winter day to his wife telling him that somebody had called to speak to him. What Bishop interpreted as a phone call was actually a Zoom call. And one of the people on the Zoom was Bill Snyder. The legendary Kansas State coach's message? Bishop had made the College Football Hall of Fame.
 
"Once I finally realized I made it, I thought about all the lows and the 'yes' I got," Bishop said, referring to Kansas State's belief in him. "Everybody that's ever crossed paths with me — coaches, players, starting with the locker room, which made me the player that I was. It allowed me to go out there and battle with those guys.
 
"Without those guys, there's no Mike Bishop going into the College Football Hall of Fame, and I respect that and I honor that."
 
Bishop is just the fourth Kansas State player to make the Hall, and the seventh member of the program, joining Snyder, his coach (2015). He committed to the Wildcats out of Blinn Junior College because they were the only program that never doubted his ability to play quarterback at a high level, a belief that he made good on by going 22-3 as a starter in Manhattan, leaving college with 26 game, season or career records.
 
Bishop had played the position since he was seven-years old, and it became a part of his identity and, eventually, his legacy. The Willis, Texas native appreciated the new home he found in the state of Kansas and just what suiting up in that purple uniform meant for the people of the Sunflower State.
 
"I'm different from a lot of people," Bishop said. "Some of the local guys from Kansas on the team had dreams and aspirations to play for Kansas State. For me, when I see those guys doing well, when I see them scoring touchdowns and making big plays, that's a lifetime accomplishment, a lifetime dream for them. And a guy like me, I'm playing football, I'm from the state of Texas where football is huge. So, to see somebody that loves football and gets to play at the biggest school, and they're a local Kansas kid, to see them be able to line up and come out of that locker room and hear the crowd, for me that was amazing, because being from Texas I got to be around some great high school football with amazing crowds and loud noises. And for those guys to experience that and for me to see that, it shined a different light on football and Kansas State for me."
 
Bishop's best personal memory came from the 1998 season. One year earlier, he and his teammates had been on the losing end of a 56-26 blowout at Nebraska, and Bishop vowed to keep that from happening again. "Never twice," read the wristband Bishop wore that day. And the quarterback followed through on that promise, leading the Wildcats to a 40-30 win.
 
"I told my teammates they got us this time, but when they come back next year it's going to be a whole different ballgame," Bishop said. "To see the crowd, to see the fans, to see Coach Snyder's face when those last seconds ticked off the clock, to see them take the goalposts off the ground and take them downtown, those were great memories for me, and I know it was special for the whole state of Kansas, the whole city of Manhattan and all the fans across the world that support Kansas State. That was something big, and I was just blessed to be a part of it."
 
Kansas State had a perfect regular season record, eventually falling in the Big 12 title game and in the Alamo Bowl. Bishop finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up. He won the Davey O'Brien Award. The Wildcats finished in the top-10 in both of Bishop's seasons.
 
"There was a foundation at Kansas State before I got there," Bishop said. "We were just lucky enough to add to the Kansas State legacy. And for me and my teammates as well, we just loved playing football, and the way we loved the game and the way we played the game, it speaks for itself."
 
Bishop now lives in Houston, where he is the head football coach of the Legacy School of Sport Sciences.
 
UP CLOSE
 

• Named a consensus First Team All-American in 1998 and two-time All-Big 12 selection.
• Claimed the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top quarterback and finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up and a finalist for Maxwell and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards.
• Set 34 school records and 14 Big 12 records while rushing for 1,314 yards and 23 touchdowns and throwing for 4,401 yards and 36 touchdowns during his two seasons in Manhattan.
• Played for College Football Hall of Fame Coach Bill Snyder.
• Becomes the fourth K-State player to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.