Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB. Once that is done, we will examine how each team honors its past players, coaches, and executives. As such, it is important to us that the University of Minnesota will be inducting eight new members into their Athletic Hall of Fame.

They will be inducted on September 6.

The newest members are:

Nicole Chimko-Fahey, Women’s Track & Field, 1996-99:  The Canadian was a three-time All-Big Ten champion in discus and javelin and was a two-time All-American.

Eric Decker, Football & Baseball, 2006-09: Decker was a two-time All-Big Ten Selection as a Wide Receiver and accumulated 3,119 Yards and 24 Touchdowns.  He would later play professionally and was on Denver’s 2013 AFC Championship Team.  Decker was also drafted twice in the Major League Baseball Draft.

Tori Dixon, Women’s Volleyball, 2010-13:  Dixon was a two-time AVCA All-American and three-time All-Big Ten Selection.  She had 1,479 career kills for the Golden Gophers.

Laurie Kaiser Sund, Women’s Gymnastics, 1983-86:  Kaiser Sund was a three-time All-Big Ten Selection and won the Big Ten Floor Exercise in 1984 and 1986 and the Vault in 1984.

Amanda Kessel, Women’s Hockey, 2010-13 & 2016:  Kessel led Minnesota to three straight National Championships (2011-13) and was a two-time All-American.  She also won the WCHA Player of the Year, the WCHA Rookie of the Year, and the 2013 Patty Kazmaier Award.  She also represented the United States in three Olympic Games, winning two Gold Medals, and owns four World Championship Gold Medals.

Don Lucia, Men’s Hockey Coach, 1999-2018:  Lucia guided the Golden Gophers to five Frozen Fours, winning two National Championships (2022 & 2003).  He also led the school to four WCHA Regular Season Titles, four Big Ten Titles and had an overall record of 457-248-73.

Harsh Mankad, Men’s Tennis, 2000-02:  From India, Mankad was the first player in school history to obtain a number one NCAA rank.  He was the 2002 Big Ten Player of the Year and a three-time First Team All-Big Ten Selection.

Joel Maturi, Athletics Director, 2002-12:  Maturi became the first AD in school history to oversee both the Men’s and Women’s programs.  Over his tenure, the Golden Gophers won five National Titles and 45 Big Ten/WCHA Championships.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the impending members of the University of Minnesota Athletic Hall of Fame.

From the University of Minnesota, Rick Upchurch came to the Denver Broncos in 1975, and like many Wide Receivers, he was used as a returner as a rookie.  This was the role he primarily played in his first four seasons.  During that time, he was a Pro Bowler and a First Team All-Pro Selection twice and was regarded as the NFL's premier punt returner.

While still returning on a regular basis, he would be used more as a Wide Receiver from 1979 to 1983, peaking with a 64 Reception Season in 1979 and finishing with 267 receptions for 4,369 yards and 24 Touchdowns.  Upchurch went to his third Pro Bowl in 1979, with his fourth coming in 1982, coinciding with a third First Team All-Pro selection.  Upchurch would have another 3,008 Punt Return Yards, with eight of them going into the end zone.

Are there enough Green Bay Packers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

No, there should be more...

Gale Gillingham was drafted from the University of Minnesota to the already loaded Packers team in 1966.  A member of the Super Bowl I winning team, he would play a more significant role in the Super Bowl II winning team as he was now the starting Left Guard.  That would be the end of his championships (though what a way to have your first two years!), but not the end of his memory-making moments in the NFL.  In the next six seasons, Gillingham would be a Pro Bowl Selection in five of those years, with two of them being named a First Team All-Pro.  He would be inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1982.

The New England Patriots would have a lot of talent wearing their uniform, but only one of them would have the nickname"Mr. Patriot."

The road to the pros was long for Cappelletti: he went undrafted in 1955 after an excellent college career at the University of Minnesota and played semi-pro for a few years.  The creation of the American Football League in 1960 would create opportunities, and Cappelletti signed with the Boston Patriots, where he was hired as a Kicker and Cornerback.  He found a perfect home on the East Coast, and over the 1960s, he became the team's permanent kicker and led the AFL in field goals three times.  That, however, was not the only job that Cappalletti would have for the Pats.

Cappelletti moved away from the defensive side of the ball and would also play at Flanker and Split End, and over his 11 seasons in Boston, he would accrue 292 Receptions for 4,589 Yards and 42 Touchdowns.  Four of his seasons would see him finish in the top ten in Receiving Yards.

Scoring TDs, Field Goals, and Extra Points, Cappelletti would retire by far as the franchise leader in points, though Adam Vinatieri has since eclipsed that.  He is, however, the All-Time leader in Points Scored for the AFL, a record we feel certain anyone, Vinatieri included, can never touch.

We would love to make a case for Karl Mecklenburg just for his nickname of the “Albino Rhino,” but we have always been a sucker for colorful (or in this case, not so colorful) nicknames.

For years, there was no argument that Karl Mecklenburg led the Denver Broncos defense.  He was a major factor in multiple playoff appearances, and he earned several individual accolades.  Unfortunately for Mecklenburg, he wasn't on the Broncos squad that finally pushed through to a pair of Super Bowl wins in the late 90s. 

The Denver Broncos seem to have little Hall representation from their early days.  Mecklenberg is honored in Denver in the Ring of Fame, but the Rhino is unlikely to be the next Bronco enshrined.