CU's Figures In Class of 2024 Selected For Induction Into The College Football Hall of Fame

BOULDER — You can argue that without his exploits, the University of Colorado football team quite possibly would not have won its first and only national championship in 1990. Now some 34 years later, Deon Figures is another member of that team who is the recipient of the ultimate honor in the sport.

Figures, 53, is one of 19 players and three coaches who will be officially recognized among college football's all-time greats, selected for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in its 2024 Class, the National Football Foundation (NFF) announced Monday. He first appeared on the national ballot for the Hall in 2023, so he made it in his second year on the ballot.

He will become the 11th Buffalo enshrined in the Hall, joining Byron White (inducted in 1952), Joe Romig (1984), Dick Anderson (1993), Bobby Anderson (2006), Alfred Williams (2010), John Wooten (2012), Coach Bill McCartney (2013), Herb Orvis (2016), Michael Westbrook (2020) and Rashaan Salaam (2022). Figures becomes the fourth player who was coached by McCartney to enter the Hall, joining Salaam, Westbrook and Williams who all played for him during his 13-year tenure as head coach from 1982-94.

Deon Figures with the Thorpe Trophy

A consensus first-team All-American at cornerback as a senior in 1992, when he was selected by the Associated Press, United Press International, FWAA, Walter Camp, NEA, Football News and The Sporting News, he was the seventh recipient of the Jim Thorpe Award, presented to the nation's top defensive back. That season, he had six interceptions with eight passes broken up, and allowed only 12 pass completions overall in 404 opponent snaps when CU was in man coverage. Along with making 38 tackles, he was selected as the Big Eight Conference's defensive player of the year.

Figures at times felt like he was on an island as opposing quarterbacks were timid in throwing in his direction.

"Man, it gets boring over here, c'mon, throw the ball my way sometime!" he recalled about the '92 season.

He also returned punts for the first time that year, ranking 20th in the NCAA (11.4 per return). Against Kansas State, he had 10 returns for 167 yards, both marks setting CU single game records that still stand to this day.

Deon Figures Football

The players are annually informed from the NFF via a package that includes a commemorative Hall of Fame football. It arrived Monday morning and caught him "totally off guard." The package was sitting outside in the snow on his porch and he didn't see it at first.

Figures is two days shy of his birthday, as he was born Jan. 10, 1970 in Bellflower, Calif.; he was asked if this was the ultimate birthday present. "This is cool, right here, I'm digging it. And it's really special right before my birthday."

"This really means a lot, to be a member of the College Football Hall of Fame," he said. "I must have done a little something on the field. I chose football over basketball, I guess I made the right the choice."

He was especially pleased in becoming the fourth player on the same McCartney teams from 1990-94, with his head coach, to be selected for the Hall of Fame.

"Those guys right there are unique players, legends, and I'm humbled but proud to be a part of that group," he said. "Coach Mac, my coaches, I thank them for coming to my house, which was probably pretty scary. But they had faith in me to join the CU program.

"I hope Chris Hudson will be next, he's my little brother," he added. Hudson won the Thorpe Award in 1994 and played alongside Figures for two seasons. Hudson, who played safety and cornerback, as been on the Hall's regional ballot for four years.

In CU's 1990 national championship season, he made two late game-saving interceptions. In a 20-14 win over Washington in Boulder, UW had driven 70 yards for a first-and-goal at the CU 7. After two incomplete passes, Figures broke up a pass on third down, and with 59 seconds left in the game, his pick in the end zone ended the Husky threat (see those plays here at the 2:39:13 mark).

And in the 10-9 victory over Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, the win that cemented CU's consensus national title, he intercepted Irish quarterback Rick Mirer with eight seconds remaining and proceeded to run out the clock; had the pass been completed, it was very likely Notre Dame would have had its star kicker, Craig Hentrich, try a field goal in the neighborhood of 55 yards (See the play here at the 8:45 mark).

Figures, who lined up at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds as a collegian, recorded 27 pass deflections, the second-most in CU history when he completed his career, and his 12 regular season interceptions were fourth. In 44 career games (not including bowls), he was in on 176 tackles (128 solo), five for losses with 13 third down stops. He also recovered two fumbles and forced one and added six more tackles on special teams. The 176 tackles were the 11th-most by a defensive back at the time of his graduation, with the unassisted count seventh. In four bowl games, he had 18 tackles, four passes broken up and the interception.

His career was bookended by winning the Lee Willard Award as CU's outstanding freshman player (1988) and he concluded his collegiate time by playing in the 1993 Hula Bowl (1993). He was a honorable mention all-conference performer as a true freshman and was a second-teamer his junior year. The Buffaloes were 36-10-3 during his CU career, including a 22-4-2 record in Big Eight Conference games (not including the 1989 campaign that he sat out). In addition to the '90 national title, CU won the Big Eight Conference that season and shared the '91 crown. Despite not playing in 1989, he did have a vital role on CU's scout teams that led to the Big Eight title and an 11-0 regular season record.

He was a first round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1993 National Football League Draft, the 23rd selection overall, and played in 93 career NFL games with Pittsburgh (1993-96) and Jacksonville (1997-98). He had 260 career tackles (236 solo), with 58 pass deflections and nine interceptions. In the league for six years with as many winning records (teams combined to go 64-32), he helped the Steelers to three AFC Central titles and one AFC championship and the Jaguars to a pair of divisional crowns.

Figures was inducted into CU's Athletic Hall of Fame in the class of 2014, and actually finished 30th in the '92 Heisman Trophy balloting. He was also honored in 1992 with the Touchdown Club of Columbus' Jack Tatum Trophy as the top defensive back.

Colorado's defensive backs coach from 1985-87, Steve Bernstein, recruited Figures, but left before he could coach him, as he joined defensive coordinator Lou Tepper on his staff at Illinois when both were hired by Illini head coach John Mackovic shortly after the February signing date.

Bernstein was turned on to Figures by the head coach at Los Angeles' Serra High School, the late Dale Washburn. When Bernstein was an assistant coaching the secondary at Utah State in the late 1960s, Washburn played safety for him. That area of Los Angeles just happened to be part of Bernstein's recruiting territory. He recalled Washburn as someone who did a great job with his players and was a real good role model for them as the school was located on the fringes of inner-city L.A.

"He was a great high school athlete," Bernstein said. "Not only an exceptional two-way football player, but he was a great point guard and also starred on Serra's track team. I remembered his coaches telling me he could long jump 23 feet."

That he did (23-2 career best), and also excelled in the high jump (6-6) and ran relays. On the basketball court, his senior year he averaged 25.2 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals. And on offense, he caught 35 passes for 720 yards and 16 touchdowns. But his was his defensive accomplishments that stood out the most, with 57 tackles, six interceptions and 31 pass deflections in leading Serra to a 9-2 record his senior year in 1987. A first-team all-CIF, all-South Bay and all-Camino Real League performer at both defensive back and wide receiver as a senior, he never played football until he was a junior.

Figures is the second College Football Hall of Famer that he recruited; after he followed Mackovic to the University of Texas, Bernstein recruited future Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams for the Longhorns. And Figures is the second Serra player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, as he will join Illinois wide receiver David Williams, who played for the Illini from 1982-85.

"Deon was the best corner/defensive back that we ever recruited," said CU athletic director Rick George, who ironically helped recruited both Williams and Figures, Williams to his alma mater (Illinois) and Figures to CU when he was McCartney's recruiting coordinator. "He was long, had great speed and was an outstanding lockdown cover guy. He is very deserving of being our next Buffalo to be selected for induction into the College Hall of Fame."

Zaven Yaralian coached Figures his first two seasons at CU, with defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz tutoring him his sophomore season in 1990. Greg Brown then was hired to take over the defensive backs, coaching him his final two years in Boulder when he matured into the best defensive back in the nation.

"We had a really terrific group of defensive backs, and players like Deon allowed us to get into more press coverage and started evolving even more as a defense," Hankwitz said. "We were able to do more things with coverage because we saw the potential when we had guys like Deon, Chris Hudson, Ronnie Bradford, Tim James. The corners were critical in covering people back then and gave us the ability to do more things than we had done in the past. Plus, they were great teammates, very coachable and overall a good group of men."

"The first thing that comes to mind when I remember Deon was how he saved the Washington game for us," Hankwitz added. "Those back-to-back plays were big. They had us on the ropes, and we lose that one, the national championship goal we were working toward would have been over."

"This is so well-deserved for him, he was a special player with enormous talent," Brown said. "But what made him really special was that he was all-in about studying the opponent, their schemes and the techniques of their receivers. He had a goal, a vision and he pursued it by working hard every day. He wanted to play in the NFL and he had the natural talent, the wherewithal and aptitude to play cornerback. That's not an easy deal – you're going against the best athletes in the world.

"Deon was pleasure to coach and be around," Brown added. "The chemistry in that room was terrific, and he played a big part in all of them working together. Easily one of the most enjoyable groups I've ever coached."

"I'd need to thank my coaches, coach Bernstein who recruited me, coach Yaralian, coach Hankwitz, who kind of coached us like smaller linebackers, and coach Brown," Figures said. "He was a technician who really knew his stuff, he took my play from one level to the next. Not just me, but the entire secondary as a group. Our confidence just went through the roof. We were unstoppable, and we could stop anybody."

The defense coordinated by Hankwitz, the coaching by Brown and with players like Figures, the 1992 Buffaloes allowed a paltry 278 yards per game, the ninth-best in the NCAA (CU's highest-ever ranking) and the lowest figure allowed by the Buffaloes in the last 55 seasons.

This year's inductees in the 2024 class were selected from a national ballot of 78 players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision, the 101 players and 32 coaches from the divisional ranks and the NFF Veterans Committee candidates.

"We are extremely proud to announce the 2020 College Football Hall of Fame Class," said Archie Manning, NFF Chairman and a 1989 College Football Hall of Famer from Mississippi. "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."

In addition to the official induction ceremony in Las Vegas, all inductees will also be recognized at their respective collegiate institutions this fall with NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, presented by Fidelity Investments. Their accomplishments will be forever immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. The official announcement was made during ESPN's "Championship Drive" Monday afternoon during its pregame coverage of the championship game between Michigan and Washington.

"We want to thank ESPN for the opportunity to announce the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class during today's lead up to the College Football Playoff National Championship game," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell (who also happens to be a 1970 CU graduate). "Today's announcement shines a light on the accomplishments of some of college football's greatest legends. We also want to extend a big thanks to the CFP for their role in today's announcement."

More than 5.71 million people have played college football in more than 154 years, according to the NFF, but only 1,093 have been selected for the Hall (along with 233 coaches); that's .02 percent of those who have played the game. The most significant reason for this is that the Hall's rules for selection include that a player must have, at minimum, been selected as a first-team All-American by those organizations it recognizes as long-time selectors.

The 2024 HOF Class: Justin Blackmon (WR, Oklahoma State); Paul Cameron (TB, UCLA); Tim Couch (QB, Kentucky); Warrick Dunn (RB, Florida State); Armanti Edwards (QB, Appalachian State), Deon Figures (CB, Colorado); Larry Fitzgerald (WR, Pittsburgh); Toby Gerhart (RB, Stanford); Dan Hampton (DT, Arkansas); Steve Hutchinson (OG, Michigan); Antonio Langham (CB, Alabama); Randy Moss (WR, Marshall); Julius Peppers (DE, North Carolina); Paul Posluszny (LB, Penn State); Dewey Selmon (NG, Oklahoma), Alex Smith (QB, Utah); Kevin Smith (CB, Texas A&M); Chris Ward (OT, Ohio State); Danny Woodhead (RB, Chadron State).
Coaches: Mark Dantonio (Cincinnati, Michigan State); Danny Hale (West Chester, Bloomsburg); Frank Solich (Nebraska, Ohio).

CU's Figures In Class of 2024 Selected For Induction Into The College Football Hall of Fame

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