Herb Orvis Set for Oct. 15 NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute

IRVING, Texas - The University of Colorado and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor Herb Orvis with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments. The Salute will take place Oct. 15 in Boulder, Colo., during the Buffaloes' game against Arizona State. Coverage of the game will start at 6 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Networks.

"First of all, it's a great surprise," Orvis said in a Colorado release after the announcement. "A run of vivid memories come back to mind ... the players you get to play with, the coaches you played for, the games. They all eventually disappear into another life, but an honor like this brings it all back together - just the excitement of playing on a great team and the love of the game. This is truly an unexpected honor."

The NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute program, which began with the inaugural class in 1951, has become a hallowed tradition, and to this day the singular events remain the first of numerous activities in each inductee's Hall of Fame experience. During the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, each inductee returns to his alma mater to accept a Hall of Fame plaque that will remain on permanent display at the institution. The events take place on the field during a home game, and many inductees cite the experience as the ultimate capstone to their careers, providing them one more chance to take the field and hear the crowd roar their name.

"Herb Orvis caused nightmares for opposing offenses during a Hall of Fame career at Colorado," said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. "His impressive feats earned him First Team All-America honors in 1971. We are thrilled to honor him in front of the Buff faithful at Folsom Field."

A First Team All-Big Eight Conference selection as both a junior and senior, Orvis was named the Big Eight Conference Newcomer of the Year as a sophomore in 1969 after recording 75 tackles. The 1971 recipient of the Dave Jones Award as Colorado's most outstanding defensive lineman, he led the Buffs to three consecutive bowl games, including wins in the 1969 Liberty Bowl and the 1971 Bluebonnet Bowl.

The senior team captain finished his career as Colorado's all-time leader in sacks (20) and second in tackles for loss (32). Orvis was named the National Player of the Week after a 12-tackle, two-sack performance against Penn State in 1970 that ended the Nittany Lions' 31-game unbeaten streak. He would lead the Buffs to a No. 3 national ranking in 1971 before playing in the Hula Bowl.

The 16th overall pick by the Detroit Lions in the 1972 NFL Draft, Orvis played for the Lions from 1972-77 and for the Baltimore Colts from 1978-81. He received Second Team All-NFC honors in 1975.\

Selected as a member of the All-Big Eight Decade team for the 1970s, Orvis is a member of the Big Eight Hall of Fame and the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame. He joined the Army while in high school, and he earned his diploma while serving in Germany, where he was offered a scholarship by Colorado head coach Eddie Crowder during a government-sponsored coaching tour. Orvis played alongside Hall of Famer Bobby Anderson during his career in Boulder.

Orvis becomes the seventh Buff to be inducted, joining Bobby Anderson (1967-69), Dick Anderson (1965-67), Joe Romig (1959-61), Byron "Whizzer" White (1935-37), Alfred Williams(1987-90) and John Wooten (1956-58). Former Colorado head coach Bill McCartney (1982-94) is also in the Hall.

Including the 2016 class, only 977 players and 211 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.19 million people who have played or coached the game over the past 147 years. In other words, only two ten-thousandths of one percent (.0002) of those who have set foot on the gridiron have earned the distinction. Click here for a complete list of players and coaches in the Hall.

The 2016 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted at the 59th NFF Annual Awards Dinner, held at New York City's historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Tuesday, Dec. 6. This year's College Football Hall of Fame Class includes: Marlin Briscoe (Nebraska Omaha), Derrick Brooks (Florida State), Tom Cousineau (Ohio State), Randall Cunningham (UNLV), Troy Davis (Iowa State), William Fuller (North Carolina), Bert Jones (LSU), Tim Krumrie (Wisconsin), Pat McInally (Harvard), Herb Orvis (Colorado), Bill Royce (Ashland [Ohio]), Mike Utley (Washington State), Scott Woerner (Georgia), Rod Woodson (Purdue) and coaches Bill Bowes (New Hampshire) and Frank Girardi (Lycoming [Pa.]).

For more information, please contact Will Rudd at wrudd@footballfoundation.com or by calling 972.556.1000.

The inductees will also be honored at the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 31, and they will take part in a series of events at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta where their accomplishments will be forever immortalized.

Herb Orvis Set for Oct. 15 NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute

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