Williams Heads for Hall of Fame
Twenty years after leading CU to its first football national championship beating Notre Dame 10-9 in the Orange Bowl, Alfred Williams (Soc ex’91) will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December.
Former CU linebacker Alfred Williams (Soc ex’91), the school’s all-time leader in sacks, will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Dec. 7, becoming just the fifth Buff to earn the honor. He’ll join Byron White (A&S’38, HonDocLaw’63), Joe Romig (Phys’63, PhD’75) and brothers Dick Anderson (Mktg’68) and Bobby Anderson&Բ;(&;’70).
“I was honestly speechless when I found out,” said Williams, who helped lead CU to a co-national championship in 1990. “A lot of people deserve to go into the College Football Hall of Fame, but they select so few, so I am both humbled and proud to represent all my teammates as the first to go in from our national championship team.”
Williams, the 1990 Butkus Award winner as the nation’s top linebacker and a two-time Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year, also will be honored by CU and the National Football Foundation on Sept.18 when the Buffs host Hawaii.
Meanwhile, CU coach Dan Hawkins says the Buffs are close to turning around the program. CU has gone 16-33 under Hawkins, including 3-9 last season.
“We are not that far away,” he said during a spring tour of the state to meet fans. “Nobody wants to be close to having a good marriage, and nobody wants to be close to winning football games. We’ve just got to build a little confidence, build a little momentum.”
CU senior offensive tackle Nate Solder earned an off-season honor, being named to Playboy’s Preseason All-America Team.
But the Buffs lost a key member of the receiving corps as junior Markques Simas had his scholarship revoked after the third suspension of his career.
CU opens the season Sept. 4 against Colorado State at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver.