Byrd, Hines selected to college Hall of Fame

Former N.C. State defensive tackle Dennis Byrd and former Duke wide receiver Clarkston Hines have been named to the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame, it was announced today.

They were among 12 players chosen from a national ballot of 77 candidates and a pool of hundreds of eligible nominees for induction. The class will be inducted at the Foundation's annual awards dinner on Dec. 7 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and will be enshrined in 2011.
Byrd, the first three-time All-ACC player, is the fifth N.C. State player to enter the Hall of Fame, joining Jack McDowell, Roman Gabriel, Jim Ritcher and Jim Donnan.

"Dennis Byrd is a part of a proud football legacy at N.C. State and we congratulate him on this well-deserved honor," N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien said in a statement.

Byrd, a native of Lincolnton, played under Earle Edwards from 1964 to 1967 and was twice named a first-team All-American. He led N.C. State to a share of the 1965 ACC title and the school's first postseason win, a defeat of Georgia in the 1967 Liberty Bowl. Selected sixth overall in the 1968 draft, he played two seasons with the Boston Patriots before a nagging knee injury suffered at N.C. State ended his career.

Hines, who's from Chapel Hill, holds school career records for pass receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and 100-yard receiving games. He remains first on the ACC list in career touchdown receptions and 100-yard receiving games, and is a three-time, first-team All-ACC selection.

In 1989, he led Duke to the ACC title, an 8-4 record and an appearance in the All-American Bowl against Texas Tech. He was a ninth-round selection of the Buffalo Bills in 1990.

"This is an extremely fantastic honor to be nominated and inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame," Hines said. "It's something that I never set out to do on my list of goals 24 years ago when I enrolled at Duke University, but I am very happy and I feel honored. As I think about this individual award I'm receiving, I can't help but think about my teammates and my coaches - Coach [Steve] Spurrier, Coach [Steve] Sloan, who recruited me to Duke, in particular - and think about all of the people that had a small or large part in me being able to receive this honor."

Other inductees are Ronnie Caveness (Arkansas), Ray Childress (Texas A&M), Randy Cross (UCLA), Sam Cunningham (Southern California), Mark Herrmann (Purdue), Desmond Howard (Michigan), Chet Moeller (Navy), Jerry Stovall (LSU), Pat Tillman (Arizona State) and Alfred Williams (Colorado).

Ken Tysiac