CSN Log
May 8th, 2009, 02:10 PM
05-08-2009 02:07 PM
Harvard's Lewis Named To The College Hall of Fame
William H. Lewis was Walter Camp 1st team AA center in 1892 and 2nd team in ‘93
Harvard University center William Lewis, who played for the Crimson from 1892-93, has been inducted into The College Hall of Fame. Lewis is one of 16 former players and two coaches to earn distinction from a national ballot of 76 candidates and a pool of hundreds of eligible nominees.
The first ever African-American to earn First Team All-America honors, William Lewis helped Harvard compile a daunting 22-2 record during his career with the Crimson.
Born in Virginia, Lewis started college when he was 15 at Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (now Virginia State University), the state’s first college for African-Americans. He then transferred to Amherst College where he played three seasons before attending Harvard Law. Named Harvard’s first African-American team captain, he became an All-American center even though he weighed only 175 pounds.
After his playing career, Lewis coached at Harvard for 12 years. During that time he proposed the “neutral zone” rule that is still used today to lessen the brutality of the game at the line of scrimmage before the snap. Elected to the legislature in 1901 and named assistant U.S. attorney general for Boston in 1903, U.S. President William Howard Taft later appointed him as an assistant U.S. attorney general. He passed away in 1949.
“The Chairman Gene Corrigan did an exceptional job in selecting the 2009 College Football Hall of Fame Class,” said Manning, a 1989 College Football Hall of Famer from Ole Miss. “This year’s class represents two centuries of outstanding football players who have reached the pinnacle of success in the collegiate ranks, and we are happy to preserve their legacies in the Hall of Fame.”
The 2009 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be inducted at the Annual Awards Dinner on December 8, 2009, at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. They will be officially enshrined at the Hall in South Bend, Ind., during ceremonies in the summer of 2010.
2009 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS
Players
PERVIS ATKINS – HB, New Mexico State (1958-60)
TIM BROWN – WR, Notre Dame (1984-87)
CHUCK CECIL – DB, Arizona (1984-87)
ED DYAS – FB, Auburn (1958-60)
MAJOR HARRIS – QB, West Virginia (1987-89)
GORDON HUDSON – TE, Brigham Young (1980-83)
WILLIAM LEWIS* – C, Harvard (1892-93)
WOODROW LOWE – LB, Alabama (1972-75)
KEN MARGERUM – WR, Stanford (1977-80)
STEVE McMICHAEL – DT, Texas (1976-79)
CHRIS SPIELMAN – LB, Ohio State (1984-87)
LARRY STATION – LB, Iowa (1982-85)
PAT SWILLING – DE, Georgia Tech (1982-85)
GINO TORRETTA – QB, Miami (Fla.) (1989-92)
CURT WARNER – RB, Penn State (1979-82)
GRANT WISTROM – DE, Nebraska (1994-97)
* Deceased
Coaches
DICK MacPHERSON – 111-73-5 (.601) – Massachusetts (1971-77), Syracuse (1981-90)
JOHN ROBINSON – 132-77-4 (.629) – Southern California (1976-82, 1993-97), Nevada-Las Vegas (1999-2004)
By Harvard Athletic Communications
Harvard's Lewis Named To The College Hall of Fame
William H. Lewis was Walter Camp 1st team AA center in 1892 and 2nd team in ‘93
Harvard University center William Lewis, who played for the Crimson from 1892-93, has been inducted into The College Hall of Fame. Lewis is one of 16 former players and two coaches to earn distinction from a national ballot of 76 candidates and a pool of hundreds of eligible nominees.
The first ever African-American to earn First Team All-America honors, William Lewis helped Harvard compile a daunting 22-2 record during his career with the Crimson.
Born in Virginia, Lewis started college when he was 15 at Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (now Virginia State University), the state’s first college for African-Americans. He then transferred to Amherst College where he played three seasons before attending Harvard Law. Named Harvard’s first African-American team captain, he became an All-American center even though he weighed only 175 pounds.
After his playing career, Lewis coached at Harvard for 12 years. During that time he proposed the “neutral zone” rule that is still used today to lessen the brutality of the game at the line of scrimmage before the snap. Elected to the legislature in 1901 and named assistant U.S. attorney general for Boston in 1903, U.S. President William Howard Taft later appointed him as an assistant U.S. attorney general. He passed away in 1949.
“The Chairman Gene Corrigan did an exceptional job in selecting the 2009 College Football Hall of Fame Class,” said Manning, a 1989 College Football Hall of Famer from Ole Miss. “This year’s class represents two centuries of outstanding football players who have reached the pinnacle of success in the collegiate ranks, and we are happy to preserve their legacies in the Hall of Fame.”
The 2009 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be inducted at the Annual Awards Dinner on December 8, 2009, at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. They will be officially enshrined at the Hall in South Bend, Ind., during ceremonies in the summer of 2010.
2009 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS
Players
PERVIS ATKINS – HB, New Mexico State (1958-60)
TIM BROWN – WR, Notre Dame (1984-87)
CHUCK CECIL – DB, Arizona (1984-87)
ED DYAS – FB, Auburn (1958-60)
MAJOR HARRIS – QB, West Virginia (1987-89)
GORDON HUDSON – TE, Brigham Young (1980-83)
WILLIAM LEWIS* – C, Harvard (1892-93)
WOODROW LOWE – LB, Alabama (1972-75)
KEN MARGERUM – WR, Stanford (1977-80)
STEVE McMICHAEL – DT, Texas (1976-79)
CHRIS SPIELMAN – LB, Ohio State (1984-87)
LARRY STATION – LB, Iowa (1982-85)
PAT SWILLING – DE, Georgia Tech (1982-85)
GINO TORRETTA – QB, Miami (Fla.) (1989-92)
CURT WARNER – RB, Penn State (1979-82)
GRANT WISTROM – DE, Nebraska (1994-97)
* Deceased
Coaches
DICK MacPHERSON – 111-73-5 (.601) – Massachusetts (1971-77), Syracuse (1981-90)
JOHN ROBINSON – 132-77-4 (.629) – Southern California (1976-82, 1993-97), Nevada-Las Vegas (1999-2004)
By Harvard Athletic Communications