Good in the Game 11/5

Good morning, football fans! And happy belated Texas High School Coaches Day to all the coaches In the Lone Star State, which was celebrated on Friday, Nov. 1!

Larry Fitzgerald is proud of the company he now keeps

Larry Fitzgerald was promised nothing but the opportunity to compete when he committed to play for Walt Harris at Pittsburgh, and he ran with it.

In just two seasons playing for the Panthers, Fitzgerald caught 161 passes for 2,677 yards and a school-record 34 receiving touchdowns, setting an NCAA record by catching a touchdown in 18 consecutive games along the way.

Fitzgerald became the first sophomore ever to earn Walter Camp Player of the Year honors in 2003, and now becomes the 20th Pitt Panther to enter the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame.

Click here to read more about Fitzgerald’s legacy in his 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Spotlight!

Dan Hampton’s Razorback career was a dream come true

Dan Hampton’s father won a color television in an office pool on the 1970 Sugar Bowl between Arkansas and Ole Miss, a game in which Archie Manning led the Rebels to a 27-22 win over the Razorbacks.

Twenty years later, Hampton was busting Manning’s nose in an NFL game as a member of the Chicago Bears. Fast-forward another 30 years, and Manning was the one to call Hampton to let him know he would be inducted into the NFF College Hall of Fame as a member of the 2024 class.

Click here to read more about Hampton’s legacy in his 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Spotlight!

Did you miss last week’s episode of the Good in the Game Podcast with show host LaVar Arrington and iconic broadcaster Charles Davis?

Davis discussed his career, his influences and what the game of football has meant to him on and off the field. Davis also hit on his time at the University of Tennessee, transitioning to the broadcast booth and how through hard work and determination, Davis has earned his title as one of the best in the business.

Indiana enters the Top 10 in this week’s FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll!

The Hoosiers’ 47-10 win over Michigan State has them at 9-0 and into the FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll Top 10!

🏈 Week 10 FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll

COME JOIN US IN LAS VEGAS!

The 66th National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner presented by Las Vegas will be here before we know it, and tickets are going fast — buy yours now to ensure you get the NFF discounted rate!

🏈 Buy your tickets now

Learn more about the game with CFO’s Steve Shaw

The NFF works with College Football Officiating (CFO) throughout the year to make the game better and safer. As part of the relationship, the NFF is pleased to share with our readers the most recent CFO-NCAA Media Video, explaining some of the recent play calls in college football.

Justin Blackmon — wide receiver, Oklahoma State

Armanti Edwards — quarterback, Appalachian State

EDINBURG, Texas -- Hidalgo County, deep in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley near the southern tip of Texas, sells more Dallas Cowboys gear than Dallas County. This is an area of the country that loves football.

Dr. Guy Bailey had that knowledge when he took over as founding president of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley back in 2014, and soon thereafter made it his goal to start a football program at the university to give the community a local team to support, and conversely, a team to support the community.

A group was put together – Mack Brown, the former national championship-winning Texas Longhorns coach, chaired the committee. Oliver Luck lent a helping hand, along with several community leaders, to figure out what a football team would cost the community, the students, whether they would sell enough tickets, and roughly a thousand other questions.

The verdict? Do it – start building a football program from the ground up.

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KEEP READING: NFF's Good in the Game Newsletter Series: “UTRGV Football — The Heart of the Valley, Part 1: Momentum Builds, A Pandemic Hits”

Keystone College (Pa.) has announced it is adding women’s flag football as a United East Conference-sponsored sport for the 2025-26 season!

📰: Keystone College adds women’s flag football
^{The Abington Journal}

William Augustus “Dub” Jones, who starred at Tulane before becoming a legendary Cleveland Brown in the 1950s, has passed away. He was 99.

Mike Haffner, who played wide receiver at UCLA in the 1960s before spending time with the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL, has passed away. He was 82.

Dick Lowry, who won 172 games as the head coach at Wayne State and Hillsdale College between 1974 and 1996, has passed away. He was 89.

Lonnie Warwick, twice an All-Ohio Valley Conference honoree and Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Fame member who later played for the famed “Purple People Eaters” with the Minnesota Vikings, has passed away. He was 82.

A quartet of retiring leaders are set to be recognized for their dedication to the National Football Foundation and to the game of football — congratulations to American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco, Pop Warner Little Scholars Executive Director Jon Butler, Sports & Fitness Industry Association President and CEO Tom Cove and LEAD1 Association President & CEO Tom McMillen on earning the 2024 NFF Legacy Award!

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