University Park, Pa. -- Former Penn State All-America halfback Lydell Mitchell was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame with other members of the Class of 2004 Tuesday (Dec. 7) at the National Football Foundation's 47th annual awards dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
Mitchell is the 19th member of the Penn State program to receive college football's ultimate honor, joining 14 other former players and four ex-Nittany Lion coaches. The most recent Penn State player to be inducted was Glenn Ressler in 2001.
Former Penn State cornerback Adam Taliaferro also was recognized at the dinner. Taliaferro's career ended when he suffered a broken vertebrae at Ohio State during the 2000 season. After extensive rehabilitation, he resumed his academic career the following spring and is on schedule to graduate in May 2005 with aspirations of attending law school.
A native of Salem, N.J., Mitchell led the nation in touchdowns (29) and points scored (174) in 1971. He also set three NCAA season records during his superlative 1971 campaign -- most TDs (29), most rushing TDs (26) and most points scored (174), and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
Mitchell, who lives in Baltimore, Md., still holds Penn State records for touchdowns in a season (29 in 1971), touchdowns in a career (41) and rushing touchdowns in a career (38), and his 246 career points scored rank fourth -- the most among players other than kickers. His 1,567 yards rushing in 1971 stood as the Penn State season record for more than 30 years until Larry Johnson's 2,087-yard season in 2002.
During his illustrious Penn State career, Mitchell won three varsity letters from 1969-71 and helped lead Penn State to a 29-4 record over that span. The Nittany Lions went 11-1 during his senior campaign capped by a 146-yard and one touchdown performance in a 30-6 Cotton Bowl victory over Texas. He was also a part of Penn State's perfect 11-0 season and Orange Bowl victory over Missouri during his sophomore campaign in which Penn State finished No. 2 in the polls.
Mitchell still stands sixth on the Penn State all-time rushing list with a career total of 2,934 yards, an outstanding average of 5.9 yards per carry. A 1971 first-team All-America selection by the AP, Football News and Gridiron Magazine, he had 15 career 100-yard rushing performances topped by a 209-yard effort against Maryland in 1971. His season (1,754 in 1971) and career (3,904) all-purpose yardage records still rank sixth and fourth, respectively, all-time at Penn State.
Mitchell played in the Hula Bowl following the 1971 season and graduated from Penn State in 1972 with a degree in secondary education. He was selected in the second round of the '72 National Football League Draft by the Baltimore Colts and went on to play nine seasons in the NFL - six years with Baltimore, two with San Diego and one with the Los Angeles Rams.
A three-time Pro Bowl selection (1975-77), Mitchell posted three seasons of better than 1,000 yards rushing and led the NFL in receiving on three different occasions. He posted a career-best 1,200 yards on the ground in 1976 and still holds the Colts' all-time rushing record with 5,487 yards in a Baltimore uniform. He finished his NFL career with 6,534 yards and 30 touchdowns rushing and 3,203 yards and 17 touchdowns receiving.
Mitchell is part owner and national sales representative with Super Bakery, Inc., a company that produces bakery goods fortified with minerals, vitamins and protein for school age children. He also partnered with former Penn State teammate Franco Harris to revive the Parks Sausage Company in Baltimore, one of the nation's foremost minority-owned businesses. Mitchell is also active in lecturing students on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.
Other former members of the Penn State program enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame, located in South Bend, Ind., include ex-coaches Hugo Bezdek, Rip Engle, Dick Harlow and Bob Higgins along with former players John Cappelletti, Jack Ham, Glenn Killinger, Ted Kwalick, Rich Lucas, Pete Mauthe, Shorty Miller, Dennis Onkotz, Mike Reid, Glenn Ressler, Dave Robinson, Steve Suhey, Dexter Very and Harry Wilson.
Also among the 12 players and two coaches who will be inducted in the Class of 2004 is former Penn State assistant coach George Welsh who went on to a distinguished 28-year head coaching career. Welsh was part of the Nittany Lion staff from 1964-72 coaching along side Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno when both were assistants and then as part of Paterno's staff when he took over as head coach in 1966. Welsh was Mitchell's position coach while on the Penn State staff.