Hall Call!!! Mathis to be Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame

IRVING, Texas — Terance Mathis, perhaps the greatest offensive player in the history of Lobo Football, has been bestowed the ultimate honor.  Mathis on Monday was named as a part of the National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023.  Mathis joins Brian Urlacher as Lobos to be enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Mathis will be inducted along with a star-studded class on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at the 65^th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.  The announcement of the 2023 call was made earlier on Monday during ESPN’s pre-game coverage of the national championship.

Mathis lettered at UNM from 1985-87 and 1989, playing for Joe Lee Dunn and Mike Sheppard.  He finished his career as the first player (and to this point, still the only player over 30 years later) in school history with 250 receptions, 4,000 receiving yards and 6,000 all-purpose yards.

Mathis still holds several school records, including career receptions (263), career receiving yards (4,254), single season receiving yards (1,315), career touchdown receptions (36), single-season touchdown receptions (13) and touchdown receptions in a game (3).  Additionally, his five straight 100-yard receiving games still stands as a school record.

In September of 2017, Mathis was honored by UNM as the sixth player to be inducted into the Lobo Football Ring of Honor.  “God has truly been good to me. I am truly grateful and humbled by this moment,” Mathis said at the time.

It’s impossible to look the Lobo record book and not find Mathis’ name dotting the various lists.  He is second, third and seventh on the single-game receptions list (16 vs. Utah, 14 vs. Arkansas and 12 vs. San Diego State); he is second, third, fourth, eighth, ninth and 10th on the single-game yardage list; second and sixth on the single-season receptions list; first and fourth on the single-season receiving yards list; first, third and eighth on the single-season touchdown receptions list; and first and third in single-season all-purpose yardage.  His three kickoff returns for touchdowns in 1989 has been tied, but not broken, at UNM.

He is the only player in school history to amass 6,000 all-purpose yards, as his 6,691 career all-purpose yards is far and away ahead of DonTrell Moore’s second place total.  Mathis also owns the single season record for all-purpose yardage with 2,138 in 1989, a season in which he became UNM’s first consensus All-America selection.

When his Lobo career ended, Mathis was, at the time, the NCAA leader in career receptions and receiving yards. He was also the only player in NCAA history with 200 receptions, 4,000 receiving yards and 6,000 all-purpose yards at the time.

After his Lobo career was complete, he was drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 1990 draft, as the 140th selection overall.  Used mostly as a kick returner by New York, Mathis spent his first four years with the Jets, catching 93 passes and scoring four touchdowns.  However, it was his subsequent move to Atlanta that made Mathis an NFL star.  In 1994, his first season with the Falcons, he caught 111 passes for 1,341 yards and 11 touchdowns.  He was go on to play 13 seasons in the NFL, four for New York, eight for Atlanta and one for the Pittsburgh Steelers, catching 689 passes for 8,809 yards and 63 touchdowns.  Overall, he scored 66 NFL touchdowns, including one on a kickoff return and two rushing.  He was named All-Pro in 1994 and he played and started in Super Bowl XXXIII, catching a team-high seven passes for 85 yards and a touchdown as Atlanta lost 34-19 to Denver.

Overall, Mathis was the university’s first consensus All-American, earning All-American honors in both 1987 and 1989. He was a three-time First Team All-WAC performer in 1986, 1987 and 1989 and he was named the teams’ Reese Hill Offensive MVP in both 1987 and 1989.

He and his wife Arnedia have a daughter named Terae and a son Terance ,Jr. He also has three other children Sydney, Erik, and Vanessa.

2023 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS

PLAYERS:

• Eric Berry– DB, Tennessee (2007-09)
• Michael Bishop– QB, Kansas State (1997-98)
• Reggie Bush– RB, Southern California (2003-05)
• Dwight Freeney– DE, Syracuse (1998-2001)
• Robert Gallery– OT, Iowa (2000-03)
• LaMichael James– RB, Oregon (2009-11)
• Derrick Johnson– LB, Texas (2001-04)
• Bill Kollar– DT, Montana State (1971-73)
• Luke Kuechly– LB, Boston College (2009-11)
• Jeremy Maclin– WR/KR, Missouri (2007-08)
• Terance Mathis– WR, New Mexico (1985-87, 1989)
• Bryant McKinnie– OT, Miami [FL] (2000-01)
• Corey Moore– DL, Virginia Tech (1997-99)
• Michael Stonebreaker– LB, Notre Dame (1986, 1988, 1990)
• Tim Tebow– QB, Florida (2006-09)
• Troy Vincent– DB, Wisconsin (1988-91)
• Brian Westbrook– RB, Villanova (1997-98, 2000-01)
• DeAngelo Williams– RB, Memphis (2002-05)

COACHES:

• Monte Cater– 275-117-2 (70.1%); Lakeland [WI] (1981-86), Shepherd [WV] (1987-2017)
• Paul Johnson– 189-99-0 (65.6%); Georgia Southern (1997-2001), Navy (2002-07), Georgia Tech (2008-18)
• Roy Kramer – 83-32-2 (71.8%); Central Michigan (1967-77)
• Mark Richt– 171-64-0 (72.8%); Georgia (2001-15), Miami [FL] (2016-18)