Former Gopher Tony Dungy named a semifinalist for Pro Football Hall of Fame

[BleedGopher]

per ESPN:

Brooks and Harrison, along with tackle Walter Jones and coach Tony Dungy, were the first-year eligible candidates to make the cut from 126 to 25. Brooks won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay, while Harrison and Dungy were champions with Indianapolis.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10009156/tony-dungy-semifinalists-induction-pro-football-hall-fame

Go Gophers!!

 

[cemba99]

Nice to see a second Gopher, Karl Mecklenberg, on the 25 man semifinalist list as well. I think this may be Karl's 2 or 3rd attempt.

Karl only played 2 years for the Gophers, was a very late round draft pick by Denver and really blossomed as a pro. (He may have made 2nd team, All-Big Ten, but not much more. He played on some of those awful, awful Joe Salem teams.)

Any other college teams have 2 on this list?

 

[GophersInIowa]

Nice to see a second Gopher, Karl Mecklenberg, on the 25 man semifinalist list as well. I think this may be Karl's 2 or 3rd attempt.

Karl only played 2 years for the Gophers, was a very late round draft pick by Denver and really blossomed as a pro. (He may have made 2nd team, All-Big Ten, but not much more. He played on some of those awful, awful Joe Salem teams.)

Any other college teams have 2 on this list?

Was he a transfer?

 

[cemba99]

Mecklenberg was a transfer, however anything but a "typical" one.

If I remember correctly (I was an undergrad then - we are the same age), Karl was an Edina kid recruited by Cal Stoll. Somehow the scholarship offer was either yanked, or somehow never materialized (he was only 6', 200 lb - even then rather small for a linebacker) - he was asked to walk on. He said no way and got a partial scholarship at Augustana in Sioux Falls. After two years (in which he had grown another 3 inches and filled out considerably), he was probably the best player on their defense, yet instead of getting a full scholarship, the story goes that he had his scholarship yanked because his dad was a physician and could therefore easily afford the tuition!

He said no way, and by then Joe Salem had taken over at Minnesota and offer him a full ride for his remaining two years of eligibility. Karl had to sit a year, and as I said on an earlier post, played well for some brutal Joe Salem teams. Was drafted in the late rounds by Denver, (back then they had nearly double the number of round they have now) and, as they say, the rest is history.