Oct. 31, 2012

DALLAS - The University of California and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor 1974 First Team Consensus All-American QB Steve Bartkowski with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments®, Nov. 2 in Berkeley during the game between the Bears and Washington. Coverage of the game will start at 6:00 p.m. PT on ESPN2.

"It's an absolute honor, and I'm humbled by it, especially now that I hear some of the guys that are along with me in this class," Bartkowski said at the time of the announcement in May. "I'm absolutely thrilled. It's one of the highest honors I've received, and I'm grateful for it."

The NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute program is a hallowed tradition that began with the inaugural class in 1951, and to this day the salutes remain the first of numerous activities in each inductee's Hall of Fame experience. During the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, each inductee returns to his alma mater to accept a Hall of Fame plaque that will remain on permanent display at the institution. The events take place on the field during a home game, and many inductees cite the experience as the ultimate capstone to their careers, providing them one more chance to take the field and hear the crowd roar their name.

"Few in the history of the game possessed the arm strength and the passing accuracy of Steve Bartkowski," said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. "His athletic abilities placed him among the best to have ever have had played the game. We are excited to immortalize his accomplishments in the College Football Hall of Fame, and celebrate his spectacular career with the Cal fans this weekend in Memorial Stadium."

Bartkowski earned consensus All-America honors by leading the nation in passing with 2,580 yards in 1974. He also set a school single-season record during his senior campaign by attempting 325 passes. He was universally named the best quarterback in the West following his senior year after being named team MVP, First Team All-Pac-10, an All-Coast Team selection and the NorCal Player of the Year. His four 300-yard passing games set a school record and still rank among the top five in Golden Bears history.

The first pick of the 1975 NFL Draft, Bartkowski played 11 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and one year with the Los Angeles Rams. He was named the 1975 NFL Rookie of the Year, appeared in two Pro Bowls and compiled 24,124 career passing yards.

In addition to his football exploits, Bartkowski was an All-American first baseman for the Golden Bears baseball team in 1973. He became a member of the California Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. Bartkowski also hosted the outdoors shows Backroad Adventures with Steve Bartkowski on TNN and Suzuki's Great Outdoors with Steve Bartkowski on ESPN. The Atlanta native serves on the board of directors for multiple organizations and is a member of the Christian Sportsmen Fellowship.

Bartkowski becomes former Cal player to earn induction, joining (listed with year of induction) Harold Muller (1951), Stanley Barnes (1954), Robert Herwig (1964), Edwin Horrell (1969), Dan McMillan (1971), Walter Gordon (1975), Rod Franz (1977), Vic Bottari (1981), Les Richter (1982), Sam Chapman (1984), Jackie Jensen (1984), Matt Hazeltine (1989), Craig Morton (1992), Ed White (1999), and Joe Kapp (2004). Hall of Fame coaches who headed the Bears' program include Andy Smith (1951), Lynn Waldorf (1966), Buck Shaw (1972) and Bill Ingram (1973).

Including the 2012 FBS class, only 918 players and 200 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly five million people who have played or coached the game over the past 144 years. In other words, only two ten thousandths of one percent (.0002) of those who have set foot on the gridiron have earned the distinction. For a complete list of players and coaches in the hall, please visit collegefootball.org.

The 2012 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted at the 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner, held at New York City's historic Waldorf=Astoria Hotel on Tuesday, December 4. This year's hall of fame class includes: Charles Alexander (LSU), Otis Armstrong (Purdue), Steve Bartkowski (California), Hal Bedsole (Southern California), Dave Casper (Notre Dame), Ty Detmer (BYU), Tommy Kramer (Rice), Art Monk (Syracuse), Greg Myers (Colorado State), Jonathan Ogden (UCLA), Gabe Rivera (Texas Tech), Mark Simoneau (Kansas State), Scott Thomas (Air Force), John Wooten (Colorado), and coaches Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee), Jimmy Johnson (Oklahoma State, Miami [Fla.]) and R.C. Slocum (Texas A&M).

For more information, please contact Will Rudd at wrudd@footballfoundation.com or by calling 972-556-1000.