We have some College Football Hall of Fame drama to discuss.

For a coach to make the hall, he has to have a winning percentage of .600.  Les Miles, who coached LSU from 2005 to 2016, is suing LSU, stating that the school’s decision to vacate 37 wins from 2012-15 removed from Hall of Fame consideration.  The vacated wins dropped his winning percentage to .597.

The vacated wins occurred when an NCAA investigation uncovered a Level I recruiting violation.  Specifically, in 2012, an LSU representative paid a prospective athlete’s father $180,150 over a five-year period. 

Miles, who led LSU to a National Championship in 2007, was also the AP Coach of the Year in 2011.  He also coached Oklahoma State (2001-04) and Kansas (2019-20).

Kyle Williams has been referred to as the “heart and soul” of the Buffalo Bills throughout his lengthy tenure in Western New York and while that is certainly a compliment there are many who are unaware of his talent as the Bills were not exactly potent during his playing days.

A mid round pick from LSU, Kyle Williams joined Buffalo in the 2006 season and this would be the only team he would ever play for over his 13 year NFL career.  The Defensive Tackle always left it all on the gridiron where he was not just the aforementioned heart of the team but was their anchor.  He quietly was chosen for six Pro Bowls and he played 183 Games recording 48.5 Quarterback Sacks with 611 Tackles.

Vastly underappreciated throughout his 14-year career in the NFL, Henry Thomas is best known for the first half of his career with the Minnesota Vikings, the team that drafted him in 1987.

Thomas was an All-Rookie at Defensive Tackle, and was equally adept at stopping the run as well as rushing the passer.  Thomas was the league leader in Forced Fumbles (4) in 1988 and had back-to-back Pro Bowls in 1991 & 1992 with a Second Team All-Pro in 1993.

Thomas signed with Detroit in 1995 where he had his first double-digit year in Sacks (10.5).  After another year in Detroit, Thomas closed his career with four seasons in New England.  Statistically, Thomas compiled 1,006 Tackles and 93.5 Sacks, a numerical showcase of his versatility and balanced defensive skills.

Andrew Whitworth played his college ball at LSU and was taken by the Cincinnati Bengals in the Second Round of the 2006 Draft.  Although he became a starter as a rookie, Whitworth didn’t break out until his 30s, earning his first Pro Bowl at 31 in 2012.  Earning a First Team All-Pro in 2015 and a second Pro Bowl, Whitworth secured a third in 2016, his last with the Bengals.

Whitworth signed with the Rams in 2017, and in his first year in L.A., he was again a First Team All-Pro, and captured his fourth and final trip to the Pro Bowl.  Staying with the Rams until his retirement, Whitworth ended his career perfectly, winning the Walter Payton Man of the Year the day before he anchored the line that helped bring the Rams the Super Bowl.

Whitworth left the game with 239 Games Played, and his 142 in Approximate Value was then 88^th all-time.

With his play in the last half of his career, Whitworth carved out a case for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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 intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is news to us that the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame has announced their Class of 2021.

The induction will take place on November 12, and will comprise of nine new members.

The Class of 2021 are:

Dr. Bill Bankhead, Men’s Gymnastics and Men’s Swimming Coach:  Bankhead would also become the first director of the LSU Assembly Center. 

Peta-Gaye Dowdie, Women’s Track & Field:  Dowdie was a 19-time All-American, 12-time SEC Champion and helped lead LSU to three NCAA Team Titles.  Representing Jamaica, she competed at the 2000 Olympics. 

Yvette Girouard, Softball Coach:  Girouard took the Tigers to three Regular Season Titles, four League Tournament wins and two College World Series appearances.  She was a three-time SEC Coach of the Year and had 1,285 Wins. 

Lora Hinton, Football:  In 1971, Hinton made history as the first African-American football player.

Bruce Reid, Men’s Track and Field:  Reid was a three-time SEC Pentathlon Champion and helped lead the Tigers to back-to-back Outdoor Track Championships.

Ashleigh Clare-Kearney Thigpen, Women’s Gymnastics:  Thigpen was a five-time All-American and in 2009 was the National Champion in the vault.  That year, she was named the LSU Female Athlete of the Year.

Billy Traux, Football:  Traux was an All-American at Tight End in 1963 and played for the Tigers in their Orange Bowl win over Colorado and Cotton Bowl win over Texas.  He would later win a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys.

Armando Vega, Men’s Gymnastics’ Coach:  Vega was a two-time Olympian, and would become LSU’s Head Coach in 1972, holding that role until 1984.  His teams finished in the top ten in nine different years, and he was named the Southern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League Coach of the Year twice.

Lloyd Wills, Men’s Track & Field.  Wills joined the Track Team in 1969, becoming the first African-American to compete at the school.  He would be a five-time SEC Champion.

We would like to congratulate the newest members of the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame for earning this prestigious honor.

There are only three seasons to draw from in the professional career of Gaynell Tinsley, but it was deemed good enough to get him an All-Decade Selection for the 1930s.

An SEC Player of the Year in 1939 with LSU, Ken Kavanaugh was chosen by the Chicago Bears the following year in the 3^rd Round of the NFL Draft.  The End would be a member of the dominant “Monsters of the Midway” that won back-to-back NFL Championships (1940 & 1941), scoring a TD in the first one (which was the lopsided 73-0 dismantling of the Washington Redskins).

Like many of his peers, Kavanaugh enlisted to serve his country in World War II, and when he returned, the former LSU Tiger picked up right where he left off.  Kavanaugh would again help the Bears win the 1946 NFL Championship.  He would be named a First Team All-Pro in various publications three times and would twice lead the NFL in Touchdown Receptions before he retired after 1950.  He was named to the 1940's All-Decade Team.

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 intend to look at how each team honor their past players and executive.  Eventually, this will extend to the major programs in the NCAA and as such it is news to us that LSU Basketball has announced that the #35 of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf will be retired this season.

As a Tiger, Abdul-Rauf was named Chris Jackson, the name he had before he converted to Islam in 1991.  The Point Guard played two years at LSU and was a Consensus All-American and SEC Player of the Year both years.  He would set records as a freshman for Points (965) and Points per Game (30.2).  

He would go on to have a long career in pro basketball, both in the NBA and abroad.

Abdul-Rauf becomes the fifth former Tiger to have his number retired. He joins “Pistol” Pete Maravich (#23), Shaquille O’Neal (#33), Durand “Rudy” Macklin (#40) and Bob Pettit (#50).

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf for earning this very prestigious honor.