Ring of Honor: Who and When is Next?

aside from the Blond Bomber, I'm hard pressed to come up with truly deserving names, Terry Miller, O'Neal, Keith Burns, perhaps... and a couple of others. The OLineman from the late 60's what was his name

No receivers, can't think of one I would put up there (maybe Armstrong, just because nobody passed back then). Definitely not anybody that got us on probation, or got suspended, or kicked out of the NFL (at any position - no Dykes, no Blackmon, no Bryant).

Woods ... no, just not enough. Washington too soon,

Sure a case could be made for some of these, but I don't think we need to be making cases... there is not all that much room to begin with, as big as they made them, and we have a lot of history yet to be played.


If we have a "committee", they should only be responsible for establishing the criteria for entering, and should not have any say-so about individuals selected. Promotion to the ring should be self-evident based on meeting the criteria.

This should not be an exercise in which guys names can you remember from your past, but should be those who were above and beyond in effort, in accolades, in statistics, and mostly in overall representation of OSU). IMHO

* FENIMORE (CONSENSUS ALL AMERICAN).... ARMSTRONG WAS NOT BUT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS A GREAT FROM THE PAST

* BLACKMON -- 2X CONSENSUS ALL AMERICAN (2010-2011) AND 2 BILETNIKOFFS

* LESLIE O'NEAL....THE BEST DEFENSIVE LINEMAN IN OSU HISTORY!!!!

* GO TO THE CONSENSUS ALL AMERICAN LIST.....TERRY MILLER....JOHN WARD (PASSED ALREADY...GREAT GUY)...DERREL GOFOURTH.....

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/oklahoma-state/all-america.html

I hope they find a good way to honor more current players and going back to honor the ones who played in years past. I would think Ed Gallegher would be one for consideration and possibly Dick Soergal. It would be nice to have at least one from each decade. Claim the whole past, even the parts that didn't shine all that much.

Once you hit the 60's and 70's you definitely see more. Garrison & Kolb are great ones but we should also consider Jerry Sherk and John Ward. The 70's start making it tough with Darrel Gofourth, James "Duck" White, Cleveland Vann, Phillip Dokes, Charlie Weatherbee, Terry Miller, and I'm sure I've missed at least that many.

I agree we need to have multiple honorees for a while getting these players that are no longer with us up there, but still making sure we honor men that are still living each year, and let that fact guide us somewhat. I think the best example is Terry Miller, He was as electric as Thurman & Barry, and we've never really honored him. It would be a shame for him to pass before we do.

How many names will actually fit in the ring? Criteria #1

I did a quick search and Clemson is the first one that popped up, and they have a formal criteria, and process, which I think is mandatory before going forward with this ...

one item that they list, which I also think is imperative is this:
Athletic accomplishments after their Clemson career are not a primary consideration in the nomination, but they must retain an unblemished record of citizenship after they leave Clemson.

https://www.tigernet.com/football/history/ring.jsp

Players that were key to championship years would be high on my list. 1945, 1976, 2011 and, hopefully, 2021. From 2011, Weeden, Blatnick and Markelle Martin should be considered. Levy Adcock was also a standout and Justin Gilbert was a major factor.

The hands down automatic choice would be Justin Blackmon - no other player had the impact he did and he was the best at his position in the country for two years. But how do you factor in his post-OSU record? My hope is that there is a path for him to make it and that we distinguish between those that tarnished their name due to criminal behavior vs mental health/addiction.

When the dust clears, my list would be Weeden and Blackmon only plus the head coach with Weeden added 1st, Gundy at retirement (or after a national championship) and Blackmon added down the road, assuming he works to rehabilitate his name. You would have a hard time convincing me that Blackmon isn't the 2nd most dominant player (#21 being the most dominant) to wear orange and black in my lifetime (since 1964).

One other name that should be in the mix from the back to back Bedlam winning teams - Kevin Williams. Not sure if either one makes the ring but I would argue he was as impactful as the great Mark Moore on those teams.

I wouldn't limit it be some size. I know Dallas started a second row of names when they got the first one completed. No reason to limit it that much. Just make good decisions.

I'd definitely want to limit the NFL impact on the decisions, but not what they did in real life.

I just cannot emphasize enough that being good citizens and role models is THE MOST IMPORTANT component.

OSU is about molding lives and creating citizens, not so much about creating grid-iron heroes to whom the rules of life are different.

as an example (Blackmon, Manley, Randel, Dez Dykes, etc..) No. Just no.

maybe a "time" factor where if late in their lives they run a foundation or have some humanitarian efforts to help others, then they could be reconsidered.

We simply have so many gridiron legends that we do not need to tarnish the ring

IMHO, this condition should be an absolute.