Former Texas standout Kenneth Sims and former Eastern Illinois quarterback and current CBS NFL analyst Tony Romo are among the 13 former players and coaches who make up the latest College Football Hall of Fame class.
The National Football Foundation announced the newly elected hall of famers Monday. This class will be inducted in December.
Joining Sims and Romo were Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer of Southern California, former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, versatile running backs Darren Sproles of Kansas State and C.J. Spiller of Clemson; offensive tackles Harris Barton of North Carolina and Aaron Taylor of Notre Dame; defensive stars David Fulcher of Arizona State, Dan Morgan of Miami; Andre Tippett of Iowa and Al Wilson of Tennessee; and former Florida A&M coach Rudy Hubbard.
Sims was the Lombardi Award winner and No. 1 pick in the 1982 NFL Draft will be the 24th Longhorn inducted into the Hall of Fame, and the fourth in the five most recent classes.
Sims’ 15 career forced fumbles still stand as the most by a player in Texas history, while his 29 sacks (fourth) and seven fumble recoveries (fifth) both rank among the top five among Longhorns all-time. His 50 career tackles for loss are ninth-best in school history.
Romo becomes the first Eastern Illinois player selected to the College Football Hall of Fame and joins former EIU head coach Darrell Mudra as inductees from EIU.
The winner of the 2002 Walter Payton Award as the top player in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Romo is noted as one of the greatest players in Eastern Illinois history. He was first-team All-America in 2002.
After going undrafted in 2003, Romo would put together a standout NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys from 2003-16. The four-time Pro Bowl selection holds Cowboy records for career passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Palmer won the Heisman in 2002 for the Trojans and went on to be the first overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Stoops coached Oklahoma from 1999-2016, leading the Sooners to their last national championship in 2000. Oklahoma went to two more BCS title games with Stoops and won 10 Big 12 championships.
He is the sixth Oklahoma coach to be inducted into the Atlanta-based Hall of Fame, including Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer.
Stoops and Tippett were teammates on the Iowa’s Big Ten championship team in 1981.
The 2021 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during 63rd NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 7 alongside the 2020 Hall of Fame Class, after the 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19. They will also be honored at their respective schools with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the 2021 season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.