Former Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington elected to College Football Hall of Fame
Penn State is set to have 26 members in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Former All-American linebacker LaVar Arrington has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the 2022 class on Monday. He will be inducted to the Hall of Fame on Dec. 6, 2022 at the 64th National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner. He becomes the latest Penn State Hall of Fame player since former Nittany Lions quarterback Kerry Collins was inducted in 2018.
“Next, I want to thank Coach [Joe] Paterno, my coaches and my teammates,” Arrington said in a press release. “They all played a big part in my development. I love Coach [Tom] Bradley, a super, awesome confidant and guidance for me. I would also like to thank so many people who played a major role in all of this, including Don Ferrell, Todd Kulka, Mark and Sue Sherburne, Dr. Dave Yukelson, Brad “Spider” Caldwell, Kirk Diehl, Tim Shope and Tom Venturino.
“To my teammates, if it wasn’t for some of the greatest players ever to play college football, I would not have been the player I was able to be. This is for our whole squad and whole defensive unit. I couldn’t have been what I was without Courtney Brown, Brandon Short, Mac Morrison, Imani Bell, David Fleischhauer, Brad Scioli, Derek Fox, David Macklin, Anthony King, Askari Adams and James Boyd. We were all just trying to be great and it just so happens I’m a representative of the greatness we were trying to achieve.”
Arrington announced the honor prematurely last week, posting a photo of a commemorative football given to him. He then went on to apologize in a later video.
Arrington is among 18 players and three coaches who are set to be inducted on Dec. 6. Joining him is defensive back Champ Bailey (Georgia), wide receiver Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech), center Sylvester Croom (Alabama), safety Mike Doss (Ohio State), quarterback Chuck Ealey (Toledo), running back Kevin Faulk (Louisiana State), defensive tackle (Illinois), linebacker Boomer Grigsby (Illnois State), wide receiver Mike Hass (Oregon State), linebacker Marvin Jones (Florida State), Andrew Luck (Stanford), Mark Messner (Michigan), Terry Miller (Oklahoma State), running back Rashaan Salaam (Colorado), center Dennis Thomas (Alcorn State), offensive tackle Zach Wiegert (Nebraska) and Roy Williams (Oklahoma).
Coaches John Luckhardt (Washington & Jefferson), Billy Jack Murphy (Memphis) and Gary Pinkel (Toledo and Missouri) join the 15 players selected.
“We are extremely proud to announce the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class,” National Football Foundation Chairman Archie Manning said in a press release. “Each of these men has established himself among the absolute best to have ever played or coached the game, and we look forward to immortalizing their incredible accomplishments.”
Arrington was selected as a two-time All-American with Penn State in 1998 and 1999. In 1999, Arrington won the Butkus Award, given to the top linebacker at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football, the Chuck Bednarik Award, awarded to the best defensive player in college football and the Jack Lambert Trophy, an award given yearly to the top collegiate linebacker. He wrapped up his collegiate career with 173 tackles, 39 tackles for loss, 19 sacks and three interceptions.
Washington selected Arrington second overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, where he played in six NFL seasons. Arrington was named as a two-time second-team All-Pro in 2001 and 2003 and named to the Pro Bowl from 2001-2003. He went on to play for the New York Giants in his final season as a pro in 2006.
Arrington has since become a sports broadcaster and has a number of entrepreneurial endeavors, including a sports agency called Leap Management, LLC in 2008 and a football training system in Xtreme Procision in 2010.
