Terance Mathis NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute During Rio Grande Rivalry Game

Make sure you come out to celebrate one of the greatest Lobos of all-time, Terance Mathis, as we celebrate his induction into the @NFFNetwork College Football Hall of Fame this Saturday!!!#GoLobos |#WIN5

🎟️https://t.co/TIN12DUwcI pic.twitter.com/7LKJDThaBd

— New Mexico Football (@UNMLoboFB) September 13, 2023

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As if a game against New Mexico State, pregame parachute teams, and postgame fireworks weren’t enough, this Saturday’s Rio Grande Rivalry game will also feature the return of Terance Mathis to University Stadium.   The University of New Mexico and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame will jointly honor 2023 College Football Hall of Fame electee Terance Mathis with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments®. The Salute will take place during the first quarter.

UNM’s helmets this week will bear the same Lobo logo that Mathis wore in his time at UNM, and the helmet will also have an added helmet stripe with a U.S. flag motiff in honor of those lost on 9/11 22 years ago.

“Unrecruited, Terance Mathis arrived at the University of New Mexico with an unclear future, but he seized the opportunity, becoming the NCAA record holder for career receiving yards and career receptions as well as the school’s first-ever consensus First Team All-American,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “We are thrilled to honor him at University Stadium as a member of the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Class.”

The NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute program, which began with the inaugural College Football Hall of Fame Class in 1951, has become a hallowed tradition, and to this day the singular events remain the first of numerous activities in the Hall of Fame experience. During the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, each electee returns to his respective school to accept a Hall of Fame plaque that will stay on permanent display at the institution. The events take place on the field during a home game, and many Hall of Famers cite the experience as the ultimate capstone to their careers, providing them one more chance to take the field and be recognized in front of their home crowd. 

A 1989 consensus First Team All-American and a Third Team All-American in 1987 (making him both the Lobos’ first consensus and first two-time All-American), Mathis finished his career as the NCAA’s all-time leader in career receptions (263) and receiving yards (4,254). He left New Mexico as the first player in NCAA history with 200 receptions, 4,000 receiving yards and 6,000 all-purpose yards in a career, and he set NCAA records for most games with a touchdown reception (26) and kickoff returns for a touchdown (3). His accomplishments earned him the national spotlight and invitations to the 1990 Hula and Senior bowls.

 A three-time First Team All-WAC selection (1986-87, 1989), Mathis held the WAC record for all-purpose yards in a career (6,691) until 2012. A two-time team MVP and recipient of the Reese Hill Award as the team’s top offensive player, Mathis set 24 UNM records by career’s end, still holding numerous career records, including receptions (263) receiving yards (4,254) TD receptions (36), kickoff returns (91) and all-purpose yards (6,691). The 1989 team captain, Mathis led the Lobos in receiving and all-purpose yards in all four years of his career, and he led the team in scoring in 1987 (50) and 1989 (98). He boasts six of the top 10 single-game-receiving performances in school annals.

He finished his career with 263 receptions for 4,254 yards and 36 touchdowns, adding 80 rushes for 393 yards on the ground, and he returned 91 kickoffs for 1,993 yards and three touchdowns and 23 punts for 115 yards during his career.

Drafted in the sixth round by the New York Jets, he played for the Jets (1990-93), Falcons (1994-01) and Steelers (2002). He was named a 1994 Second Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection. He played for the Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII, and he was Atlanta Falcons “Man of the Year” in 1998.

He was inducted into the UNM Athletic Hall of Honor inductee in 2013 and UMN Ring of Honor in 2017. He was named to UNM’s “100 Seasons of Football” All-Time Team and the WAC All-Decade Team of the 1980s.

After his playing career, he worked in NASCAR, forming Victory Motorsports in 2005 and then serving as a vice president of Marketing for Leavine Family Racing, a part-time Sprint Cup Series team. He then became a football coach, serving as the offensive coordinator at Savannah State University and now as the head coach at Pinecrest Academy outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1996, he founded the Terance Mathis Foundation, focusing on serving the Atlanta community by adopting Christmas families, distributing Easter baskets, and supporting other charities in their efforts to assist those in need.

The Detroit, Michigan, native now becomes the second New Mexico player to enter the College Football Hall of Fame, joining Brian Urlacher (1996-1999).

The 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 5 at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Click here for more information on the Awards Dinner, including options to purchase tickets online, special travel rates to the event from Delta Air Lines and hotel rates at the ARIA.

The 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Class includes Eric Berry (Tennessee), Michael Bishop (Kansas State), Reggie Bush (Southern California), Dwight Freeney (Syracuse), Robert Gallery (Iowa), LaMichael James (Oregon), Derrick Johnson (Texas), Bill Kollar (Montana State), Luke Kuechly (Boston College), Jeremy Maclin (Missouri), Terance Mathis (New Mexico), Bryant McKinnie (Miami [FL]), Corey Moore (Virginia Tech), Michael Stonebreaker (Notre Dame), Tim Tebow (Florida), Troy Vincent (Wisconsin), Brian Westbrook (Villanova), DeAngelo Williams (Memphis), and coaches Monte Cater (Lakeland [WI], Shepherd [WV]), Paul Johnson (Georgia Southern, Navy, Georgia Tech), Roy Kramer (Central Michigan) and Mark Richt (Georgia, Miami [FL]).

The accomplishments of the 2023 Class will be forever immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, and each inductee will receive a custom ring created by Jostens, the official and exclusive supplier of NFF rings.

Including the 2023 Hall of Fame Class, only 1,074 players and 230 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.7 million who have played or coached the game during the past 154 years. In other words, less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of the individuals who have played the game have earned this distinction.

Fidelity Investments has served as the national presenting sponsor of the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes since 2010. The salutes are one component of a multi-year initiative between the two organizations to celebrate the scholar-athlete ideal and a joint commitment to higher education. Fidelity is also the presenting sponsor of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, and it helped launch the NFF Faculty Salutes in 2011, which recognize the contributions of the faculty athletics representatives around the country.

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ABOUT The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame

Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl “Red” Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters in 47 states, NFF programs include the selection and induction of members of the College Football Hall of Fame; the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta; Future For Football; The William V. Campbell Trophy®; the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments; the NFF National High School Academic Excellence Award; and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Catapult, Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Jostens, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the New York Athletic Club, the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation and the Sports Business Journal. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork and learn more at footballfoundation.org.