Most of the 2015 Hall of Fame class gathers on Friday night for the enshrinees gold jacket dinner.
The members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's class of 2015 were selected earlier this year on Jan. 31, but the bronze bust of the eight men selected will be enshrined at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio on Saturday night.
Of the eight members of the 2015 class, seven played Division I football and the eighth -- Ron Wolf -- played baseball at Division III Maryville in Tennessee.
Joining Wolf in the 2015 class is James Madison's Charles Haley, the Nebraska duo of Will Shields and Mick Tingelhoff, former NFL executive and NYU safety Bill Polian, Tim Brown and Jerome Bettis of Notre Dame and the late Junior Seau from Southern California.
The enshrinement ceremony is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Haley is a local Virginian that attended James Madison in 1982. When he left the school after the 1985 season, he was a two-time All-American and the Duke’s all-time leader in tackles with 506.
Shields continued the Nebraska tradition of drawing on the importance of the big men by becoming the school’s fifth different Outland Trophy recipient in his senior season in 1992. The Huskers have a total of nine Outland Trophies, claimed by eight different players.
Tingelhoff was not a hall of fame-caliber college player but his 17-year NFL career is good for the second longest professional football tenure for a Nebraska alumnus, second only to Ron McDole.
Related: Nebraska Pillars of the Program
Born and raised in The Bronx, New York, Polian was a safety at NYU in the mid-60’s under coach Bob Windish. Although the program is no longer in commission, NYU football is one of the pioneering members of the sport.
“The Bus” made it out of a rough upbringing in Detroit and rushed for 1,912 yards in his career at Notre Dame. He set the school record for individual touchdowns in his sophomore season with 16 rushing and 4 receiving.
In 1987, “Timmy Touchdown” Brown was the first wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy. He was the first African-American and seventh player from Notre Dame to win the award. His career mark of 5,024 all-purpose yards is the most all-time in Notre Dame history.
Related: Notre Dame Pillars of the Program
The late Seau was one of the original members of USC’s “55 club,” which reserves the uniform number 55 for a leader on a team. In his senior season in 1989, Seau had 19 sacks, 27 tackles for a loss and was a unanimous All-American selection.
