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 Stanford will be inducting ten new names into their Athletic Hall of Fame.

The induction will officially occur on October 18 and will be acknowledged the day after during Stanford’s home football game against SMU.

The newest members will be:

Nick Amuchastegui, Wrestling, 2007-12.  Amuchastegui was a three-time All-American and was the first two-time Finalist in school history at the 174-pound category.  He was also a two-time conference champion and was named the 2012 Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year.

Maya DiRado Andrews, Women’s Swimming, 2010-14.  A 21-time All-American, a seven-time Conference Champion, and a four-time NCAA Champion, DiRado Andrews is also a four-time NCAA Champion (2014 200 Individual Medley, 400 Individual Medley, 400 Freestyle Relay & 400 Medley Relay.  She would later represent the U.S. in the Olympics, and at the 2016 Olympics, she won Gold in the 200 Backstroke and the 800 Freestyle Relay, Silver in the 400 Individual Medley, and Bronze in the 200 Individual Medley.

Annika Dries, Women’s Water Polo, 2010-14.  Dries led the Cardinal to three NCAA Championships (2011, 2012 & 2014) and was a four-time All-American.  She also won Olympic Gold with the United States in 2012.

Matt Fuerbringer, Men’s Volleyball, 1994-97.  Fuerbringer is a four-time AVCA All-American and was a member of the 1997 National Championship Team.  He also still holds the Cardinal record for career and single-season kills.

Teresa Noyola, Women’s Soccer, 2008-11.  Noyola was a member of the 2011 NCAA Championship Team and would also win that year’s  MAC Hermann Trophy, NCAA College Cup Offensive MVP, and Honda Sports Award.  She would also represent Mexico in two World Cups.

Chinenye Ogwumike, Women’s Basketball, 2010-14.  A three-time All-American and two-time John Wooden Award Winner, Ogwumike led Stanford to three Final Fours (2011, 2012 & 2014) and still holds the school record for Points (2,737), Rebounds (1,567) and Field Goal Percentage (.589).  She later won the WNBA Rookie of the Year and was a two-time WNBA All-Star.

Patrick Rodgers, Men’s Golf, 2011-14.  Rodgers led Stanford to three NCAA Championships and was the 2014 Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year, Ben Hogan Award winner, and Haskins Award Winner.  The three-time All-American was also the PAC-12 Golfer of the Year and matched Tiger Woods and Maverick McNealy for 11 Tournament wins at Stanford.  He is currently on the PGA Tour.

Katerina Stefanidi, Women’s Track & Field, 2009-12.  A six-time All-American in the Pole Vault, Stefanidi is a five-time conference champion.  She still holds the school record for the indoor and outdoor pole vault, and she is also a four-time Olympian, winning Gold at the 2016 Games for Greece.

Stepfan Taylor, Football, 2009-12.  Taylor is a four-time bowl participant and helped the Cardinal win the 2010 Orange Bowl and 2012 Rose Bowl.  Playing at Running Back, Taylor rushed for 1,000 yards three times and was a three-time All-PAC-12 Selection.  He later played three seasons in the NFL.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the next members of the Stanford Hall of Fame.

Richard Sherman was known for being brash and outspoken, but also an intellectual leader both on and off the field. He backed up every claim he made, and for a time, he was considered the best cornerback in football.

Sherman began his college career at Stanford as a wide receiver, but after an injury, he was moved to cornerback, where he thrived. Seattle drafted him in the fifth round of the 2011 Draft, but Sherman saw it as a slight and played with a chip on his shoulder for the rest of his career.

Sherman became a starter during his rookie year and finished well enough to win an All-Rookie spot. He dominated the next two seasons, leading the NFL in approximate value both years. In 2012, he earned First Team All-Pro honors (despite being snubbed for the Pro Bowl), helped take Seattle to the playoffs, and recorded eight interceptions. He was regarded as not only a devastating ball-hawk but also a shutdown corner who you did not want to let beat you.

Seattle was building something special, with Sherman as the centerpiece of what was called "The Legion of Boom." In 2013, Sherman was a First Team All-Pro again, finally made the Pro Bowl, and led the league in interceptions with eight. In that year's NFC Championship Game, Sherman caused a pass deflection late in the game off of San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick that led to an interception by his teammate and sealed the game. Sherman's profile (good or bad, depending on your view) rose when he made a choking gesture to Kaepernick. The Seahawks dominated Denver in the Super Bowl, and Sherman was now a champion. It was time for him to get paid.

Seattle made Sherman the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, and he did not slack off financially. He was again a First Team All-Pro and Pro Bowler in 2014, and helped take them back to the Super Bowl, though this time they lost to New England. Sherman went to the next two Pro Bowls, but his play was hampered by a sprained MCL in the second half of the 2016 season. Achilles issues also gave him trouble in 2017, and he was held to nine games. He was released after the season, but the enigmatic cornerback was far from done.

Sherman signed with the team he had tormented for years, San Francisco, and was still good, adding a sixth Pro Bowl in 2019, with a Second Team All-Pro.

David DeCastro, an All-American at Stanford, was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers as their First Round (24th Overall) Pick in the 2012 Draft. Unfortunately, he played only four games as a rookie due to an injury, but he has been relatively healthy since then. He played Right Guard until the end of the 2020 Season. In 2015, DeCastro was selected to the Pro Bowl, and he earned that honor for six consecutive years. He was also a First Team All-Pro twice.

However, DeCastro sustained an injury that kept him out of the entire 2021 Season. As a result, the team released him, and he subsequently retired. Despite this setback, DeCastro will be remembered as one of the better Tackles in Steelers history.

Frankie Albert was the 10^th overall pick in 1942 by the Chicago Bears, but remember, the year in question was 1942.  The Stanford graduate would serve in the Navy for World War II, and upon his return, he would opt to play for his home state for the Los Angeles Bulldogs of the Pacific Coast League, before joining the San Francisco 49ers of the upstart All-American Football Conference.

There are a lot of polarizing debates regarding the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but the one for Quarterback, Jim Plunkett, might be one of the hottest debates of all.

Truthfully, this debate is straightforward.

The vocal fans who support him in Canton point out that he is a two-time Super Bowl-winning Quarterback, the first of which saw him win MVP.

Those who don’t will say he was never chosen for a Pro Bowl, is an All-Pro, has a .500 regular-season record, and threw more Interceptions than Touchdowns.

Again, this is the easiest cut-and-dry debate, and we know the comments will be very one-sided on both sides!

A First Round Pick from Stanford in 1969, Gene Washington was part of the turnaround for the San Francisco 49ers from league doormats to respectability.  In his first four seasons in the National Football League, Washington made the Pro Bowl, earning First Team All-Pro honors in three of those years.

In 1970, Washington would have his best season, with his 1,100 Receiving Yards seeing him capture the league lead, and he would again finish at the top of another statistical category in 1972 with his 12 Touchdown Receptions.  Save for his final campaign with the Detroit Lions, Washington would play all of his career with the Niners and would accumulate 60 Touchdowns in total.

Born in Italy and raised in the United States, Bruno Banducci played his college ball for Stanford but was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1944.   Banducci was more at home in 1946 when the Guard joined the San Francisco 49ers of the upstart All-American Football Conference.  Banducci stayed there for the rest of his career, including the move to the NFL, until his retirement after 1954.  Banducci, who helped San Francisco gain relevance with their rushing attack, was a two-time First Team All-Pro and was chosen for the 1940’s All-Decade Team.

When you think of great San Francisco quarterbacks, you automatically think of Joe Montana and Steve Young. Before them, there was a very good one named John Brodie who put up great numbers without the supporting cast that Montana and Young had.

John Brodie was one of the game's early gunslingers, and most of the time he had to be. The 49ers of the 1960s were not a great team, and Brodie was often the main reason they were competitive. By the time the 1970s rolled around, Brodie had a better team around him, and though he was finally playoff-bound, the Niners could not get past the Cowboys for three years in a row. Still, Brodie won the 1970 MVP and was given more respect around the league.

Because he had to take a lot of chances, John Brodie’s interception rate was fairly high, and he finished his career with more picks than touchdown passes. This could be why he has never been a semifinalist for the Hall, and with the San Francisco 49ers reaching great heights in the 1980s, virtually every Niners star before them has been forgotten. John Brodie deserves better than that.