BREAKING: Brian Bosworth FINALLY Becomes A Member Of CFB Hall Of Fame
Posted on: January 9, 2015
The only two-time Butkus Award winner and arguably the greatest college football linebacker to ever play the game is finally (and I do mean, finally) a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Word had started to leak out the night before, but things were made official with an announcement made during a ceremony held Friday morning.
As you might expect, Bosworth’s former coach was one of the first to offer his congratulations.
Congratulations to @GotBoz44 for finally being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He's the only 2-time Butkas Award winner!!
— Barry Switzer (@Barry_Switzer) January 9, 2015
Maybe it was the recent ’30 for 30′ sports documentary featuring The Boz and the very clear regret he expressed regarding some of the actions of his youth, or maybe those in charge of the voting just finally realized how petty it had become keeping him out for all these years.
Whatever it was, at this point it hardly matters. It’s a well-earned honor for not only one of the all-time OU greats, but one of the greatest the sport has ever seen.
71 Comments
About time, I had forgot how good he was till I watched that 30 for 30 highlights. Amazingly fast and strong.
Long overdue.
Ditto
‘Bout damn time! Seriously, dude was dominant at the college level unlike very few LB’s ever have been or ever will be. Now what he did at the pro level… not so much, I’m afraid. After his injury(s), there was really no way he could live up to the incredible hype.
…..44!!
Congrats to the Boz!!!
Great player and has turned into a better man. Way to go Boz 44.
be nice to have a stable full of LB’s like him , Dante Jones, and Migliazzo the current roster
Congrats to the Boz!! My hairstyle definitely changed when the Boz was at OU. He was a pure joy to watch during a great period of OU football.
Congrats! Finally!! What’s the Boz up to lately anyways? Wonder if he would come back and recruit w/ JM. Recruits like Josh Smith loved the Boz 30 for 30. I think JM recruited a whole team last night already but I can dream right?!
https://twitter.com/OU_Football/status/553589958598877184
https://twitter.com/OU_Football/status/553590385725820928
https://twitter.com/OU_Football/status/553590803453313025
https://twitter.com/davidubben/status/553590218813480961
Congrats Brian!
F-ing Awesome! About time. The 30 for 30 documentary was both revealing and touching. The Boz may have rocked college football but few, if any, were or are better at the position than he was. Kudos to Brian and Coach Switzer for bringing the Boz to Norman.
Finally!! That’s awesome!!
Monty can tell recruits, not only can you represent OU but you can be an AA, Butkus winner & in the college HOF if you come here. Stike while the iron is hot.
Josh, McGinnis and others – you listening?
AbOUt DAMN TIME!! The Boz was my 1st ever sports hero and remains my all time favorite player! I was The Boz for Halloween for like 3 yrs in a row, just like half the kids on my block. I am so happy for the man right now! A long time injustice has finally been corrected!
Wow, thats awesome.
Watching Boz play would give me goose bumps. When he hit someone, I felt like I was in the game. My HS days were over in 79 so when Boz hit the scene I wasn’t to far removed. I would’ve done anything to have his ability wrapped up in his desire. Boz embodied all of us who loved the game but didn’t have the next level talents to play. Boz played football the way football was supposed to be played. No doubt he’s my favorite college LB of all time.
My 12 year old has been playing tackle football for last 4 years and a lot of the players were over at the house and I played Boz’s highlights. They asked, who’s that guy killing people. I said, best LB to ever play college football. They were in awe and watched it twice and it made an impact to 12 year olds.
Boz, you left a legacy that will far exceed anything you did off the field. OU faithful is proud to call Boz one of “our” own. He’s joining an elite team today. Congrats.
Great for the Boz44. Loved watching that man play. I was just a kid during hi time at OU. I made sure I had the hair cut and I used magic marker to color in the lines. I also made sure I wore 44 all the way through HS even though I was a FS. Great player who has turned into a greater man.
Amazes me how much flack he caught for the things he said in his playing days compared to the craziness of Miley Football (stealing Eastex name for Manziel). I had the pleasure of watching the Boz play……dude was everything a linebacker should be. I loved how violent he hit and the missile lock he had on whomever he was going after.
I’m still amazed when I watch video how fast he was.
The Miami game still stands out to me even though we lost. He was amazing and even the Miami players showed respect.
They may have, but their fans sure didn’t.
It’s about the respect on the field. You’ve seen it, they know. I’m sure during your time, there were a lot of players you went against who afterwords showed you respect.
Yep. Still a mystery how he didn’t do well in the NFL. I think he lost a huge degree of desire of some kind when he got there.
A long overdue and well deserved honor for one of the all-time great Sooners.
I still have to draw a line with his name, though. I’ve always been a fan of Brian Bosworth, but not so much of the Boz. Glad to see Brian get the award.
One of my favorite memories is from 1986, his last season as a Sooner.
A friend and I were driving up from Austin on the Friday afternoon before the RRS. Lots of cars with silly slogans painted on them along the way, but the one that I will never forget said “Bosworth has AIDS.” I turned to my friend and stated, looks like the entire Horn offense will be infected in about 24 hours.
Indeed they were, Sooners 47 Horns 12.
Now that’s funny EasTex. Congrats to Bosworth, loved watching the guy play!
I feel the same way about him. Heck of a player and he deserves the Hall of Fame in anyone’s book. It is the other stuff that can’t be forgiven, even with time. He brought down our program.
Agreed.
BOUT TIME!!!!!!!
This makes me very happy. BOOMER!!
Now its Pete Rose turn
Congrats BOZ! A montage to, well, you:
One of the three best college players I had the pleasure to see play. Boz, Joe Green, and Gale Sayers. What great memories!
One of the best of all time. It’s about damn time! Took a 30 for 30 to make this happen?
The hall was a joke without his induction
Congrats to you, Brian! This accolade is long, long, looooooooooong overdue. Doubtless THE BEST LB of his era and perhaps ever.
TFB need to contact The Boz again and get a comment on the induction!
Does Bosworth have a statue on campus? If not,it’s time
No and he should NEVER have that. He would have had that but HE blew that chance. Greatest linebacker ever but he did his best to ruin OU. Read his book and I doubt you could say that after reading it. Sorry I went off there, that is only my opinion.
He should but not for football. His statue should go directly in front of the business school because he was a genius when it came to marketing. And what did he market?
Himself!
One of the all-time greatest who was only stopped by bad shoulders. For those of you too young to remember, he was the total package. He combined the speed of Erik Striker, the instincts and toughness of Rocky Calmus, the hitting power and sure-tackling skills of Roy Williams along with the bravado of Torrance Marshall into one player.
44 played alongside some other outstanding college LB’s in their own right Dante and Migs could bring it, too.
Jones was good in his own right making AA in 1987 and Migliazzo was solid but Bosworth won back-to-back Butkus Awards for a reason.
True Dat inclusion into the HOF. Bout damn time. The most feared LB of his time. Boz would bring da wood! BOOM!!
Congrats to the great 44. I was always excited for the games to begin because I knew there was a good chance of seeing blood, ( his or someone else, it didn’t matter to him ), when he was on the field. The HOF was long overdue.
Congratulations to one of the all time greats. Such a tremendous force as a player. Would be nice if someone put together a really great highlight reel of his OU career.
Great news. Brian Bosworth deserved induction into the COF long ago. It took time for for our social culture to catch up to Bosworth’s marketing personna, ‘The Boz’, for what it was. Today, his antics, controversial in their time, would be hardly a blip on social media with all of the craziness we see. Congratulations to Brian Bosworth, the person.
Read the book, it was more than that. The Boz, with Sports Illustrated’s Rick Reilly. In it, Bosworth said the Sooner football program was laden with drug use, gun play in the athletic dorm, and other wild behavior. Although many Sooner boosters dismissed it as the rantings of a resentful ex-player, an NCAA report issued three months later confirmed many of Bosworth’s claims, and ultimately led to Switzer being forced to resign
Heck of a ball player, 2 time Butkas winner and probably the best college linebacker the game will ever see. Unfortunately he also cost us a coach.
I was speaking to ‘The Boz’, not the totality of the program and its’ ills. As to ‘he cost us a coach’…uh..no…it was all of that other stuff you mentioned like the drugs and guns and shootings and stabbings. The program was out of control. ‘The Boz’ was just just one face along with CT on the SI cover.
I did not mean for my post to sound harsh or condescending. I love reading your post and hOUligan, you are one of my favorite guys on here. I was trying to voice my opinion only, but after reading it, I sounded like I was trying to persuade and that was not my intent. All my respect to you.
Other than the pure content and the info, the ability to post and ‘discuss’ without the condescending tone as on OS is what makes this such a great site. And you’re right that the book exposed much of the darkness while upsetting a lot of people. I was one of those who never read the book as I thought it was ‘too sensational’ and didn’t care for Reilley. In hindsight, it only goes to show how much character Brian really had to tell the truth as he saw it even though I still don’t agree with his methods. And ‘thanks’ for the kind words. I’ve always read your posts, too. It’s all good Sooner brother!! Boomer!!!
BOOMER!
Hurumph! Hurumph! Hurumph!
Awesome!! So glad to hear this news! He has become such an inspiration to younger generations.
Awesome, great to hear. BOOMER!!
Congrats Brian! Well deserved, one of the best I’ve ever seen at LB.
Loved the heart, effort and hustle. Thank you!
Oh, I hate Orange too…. Be it the color or the fruit, I ain’t having none of that!
Simply the best to ever play linebacker in college football.
Congrats to the Boz. He deserves to be in the HOF. That said, hard to know how much his book and antics led to our 10+ years of woe post switzer, and if it had direct cause/ effect, it’s a significant trade off to stomach. I was at OU in the schenelly/ Blake era. Man that sucked.
He appears to be a very different person now. Also, I think he was better in the pros than people give him credit for. I wonder how much his steroid use 1) made him the star he was and 2) contributed to the shoulder issues that led to his premature retirement.
The 90s was not on Boz, but you are right that it sucked. Hence the urgency to have the current administration and coaching take action to get us moving back to NC territory.
agreed……
He had nothing to do with our wasted years at all.
I’ve read a few comments about Bosworth “ruining” the program…well, if it’s true, let’s give him the chance to right the ship…Mr. Bosworth, if you’re reading this, I’m officially offering you Tim Kish’s job. You’re welcome.
BOZ should have been inducted from the moment he was elgible. Just shows how politics within an organization can affect treating people fairly .. Just glad this finally occurred while the BOZ is alive and can enjoy the moment…..
Of course sEcSPiN has to run a story “questioning” his inclusion. smh! I highly doubt there will ever be a linebacker as dominant as he was in my lifetime.
Even Tony Casillas is questioning his inclusion. He and Boz need to bury the hatchet.
Casillas needs to grow up already.
Congrats to Boz “44”! Loved watching him play! Oh how I miss those Killer instinct OU Defenses! BOOM!