Brian Bosworth Part Of 2015 College Football Hall Of Fame Class

The National Football Foundation announced Friday that University of Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth is a member of the 2015 College Football Hall of Fame class. The induction will take place at the National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner in New York City in December.

With the induction of Bosworth, OU has now placed 21 players and five former coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame, the most of any Big 12 school. Prior to Bosworth, the last Sooner to be selected was linebacker Rod Shoate in 2013.

Bosworth was a two-time consensus First Team All-America selection as a linebacker for the Sooners in 1985 and 1986, claiming the Butkus Award each of those seasons. He helped lead Oklahoma to three straight Orange Bowl appearances and the 1985 national championship under head coach Barry Switzer. He was also tabbed as a GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1986. He led Oklahoma in tackles for three straight seasons from 1984-86.

A first-round selection in the 1987 NFL Supplemental Draft by Seattle, Bosworth played three seasons with the Seahawks. Born in Oklahoma City, Okla., Bosworth prepped at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas.

Barry Switzer on Bosworth:

“This recognition is long overdue, but we know the reasons why. Brian probably could have gone in a decade ago with Keith Jackson. If you're the only two-time winner of the Butkus Award, you belong in the College Football Hall of Fame. He would have been a three-time winner if he had played another season at Oklahoma.

“Brian was just a tremendous player, a true superstar. He was part of the best linebacker corps we had during my time at Oklahoma. They were all blessed with tremendous speed and were great competitors. That group led the nation in total defense all three of Brian's seasons.”

“Just think about all of the talent on that 1985 defense. It was truly a dominant defense and Gary (Gibbs) did a great job of coaching them. Tony Casillas was the second overall pick (in 1986). Rickey Dixon was the fifth overall pick and Dante Jones was a second-round pick (in 1988), just to name a few of them. Congratulations to Brian on this well-deserved honor.”

Gary Gibbs on Bosworth:

“He was just a great competitor who wanted to win and worked hard at being a great player. He was someone you could count on every game. He was also surrounded by a bunch of great competitors and that really brought out the best in him. He's one of the all-time greatest inside linebackers to ever play the game.

“He had other great players around him – Tony Casillas, Kevin Murphy, Dante Jones, Paul Migliazzo, Steve Bryan, Ricky Dixon – we were all tremendously blessed to have those caliber players during that stretch. It was kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all of us. But Brian obviously played a key role. He was one of the guys that led the charge and when he played he came up big. He loved to play the game; loved to compete.”

Notable Bosworth Career Honors

College Football Hall of Fame 2015

GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American 1986

Butkus Award 1985-86

Unanimous All-America 1985-86

All-Big 8 1984-86