Pair of Pitt Greats Make 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot
PITTSBURGH -- Two former great Pitt Panthers are up for selection to the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame class, according to a release from the National Football Foundation. Matt Cavanaugh, starting quarterback for the 1976 national champion Panthers, and the late, great Craig "Ironhead" Heyward are both making their sixth consecutive appearances on the ballot.
Heyward, the father of current Pittsburgh Steelers Cam and Connor, used a devastating, other-worldly combination of speed and power to star for the Panthers during the mid-1980s. His 1987 season, in which he amassed nearly 2,000 all-purpose yards and 13 total touchdowns made him a consensus All-American and a household name. The New Orleans Saints selected Heyward with the 24th overall pick of the 1988 Draft and enjoyed a ten-year career as a professional. Heyward fought cancer for eight years before his untimely death in 2006.
Cavanaugh, who concluded his career having thrown for the second-most passing yards in a season in school history, earned Most Valuable Player honors in Pitt's 1977 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia, a victory that clinched that year's national title. He played in the NFL for 15 seasons and coached for 27 more. He was most recently an offensive assistant for Washington during the 2019 season.
The College Football Hall of Fame is an exclusive club. Just 0.02% - 1,056 of the 5.54 million individuals that have ever played college football - have earned induction to the Hall. Heyward and Cavanaugh join the likes of Eric Berry, Justin Blackmon, Reggie Bush, Dwight Freeny, Julius Peppers, Tim Tebow and Marshawn Lynch on this year's ballot.
Election to the Hall is determined partially by votes from the more than 12,000 members of the National Football Foundation and the NFF Honors Court, chaired by former Ohio State running back Archie Griffin, will make the final selections. The last Pitt Panther to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame was Ruben Brown in 2015.
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