Former Bison Standout Favor Set for Oct. 29 NFF College Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute

North Dakota State and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor Mike Favor with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments^®, on Oct. 29 during the game between the Bison and Northern Iowa. The game, which starts at 3:07 p.m. CT, will air on Fox College Sports Central, KXJB-TV, and the North Dakota NBC Network.

"This is the highest level of football that I played," said Favor at the time of his induction in July. “I didn`t play any professional ball. So, to be recognized as one of the best at the highest level you played is truly a wonderful accomplishment. Being a principal is much like being a coach or an offensive lineman. You just do your job, keep your head down, kind of the Bison way, and good things will happen."

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 a special part of each inductee’s Hall of Fame experience. During the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, each inductee returns to his school to be introduced to a home football crowd as a Hall of Famer.  He is presented a Hall of Fame plaque that will remain on permanent display at the institution. The events take place on the field, 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.

“Mike Favor was a force on the North Dakota State offensive line, paving the way for two Harlon Hill Trophy winners and three North Dakota State national championships,” said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. “The NFF is thrilled to be honoring him this weekend in front of the Bison fans in Fargo.”

A two-time First Team All-America selection at center, Michael Favor helped drive North Dakota State to three Division II national championships. He started 51 games in four years (1985-88) and helped the Bison achieve a 44-6-1 overall record, enjoying two undefeated seasons in 1986 and ‘88.

In addition to twice earning All-America accolades, Favor was named a First Team All-North Central Conference performer as a junior and a senior and was the league’s Most Valuable Lineman in 1988. He blocked for Harlon Hill Award winners, quarterbacks Jeff Bentrim and Chris Simdorn. Favor was selected to the NCAA Division II Football Team of the Quarter Century in 1997 and inducted into the Division II Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

Favor possesses a bachelor’s degree in social work and coaching and a master’s degree in urban education from Hamline University. He formerly served as the head football coach and assistant principal at Minneapolis North High School from 1992 to 1996 and later tackled similar duties as the head football coach and dean of sophomore students at St. Louis Park High School. Favor currently serves as the principal of Robbinsdale Cooper High School in Crystal, Minn. He resides in Maple Grove, Minn.

He becomes the third player from North Dakota State to enter the College Football Hall of Fame, joining quarterback Jeff Bentrim (inducted in 1998) and Joe Cichy (1997). Coach Darrell Mudra (2000), who led NDSU to its first national title in 1965, and coach Gilmour Dobie (1951), who began his head coaching career with the Bison program from 1906-07, also represent North Dakota State in the Hall. 

Including the 2011 FBS class, only 900 players and 194 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 143 years. In other words, less than .0002 percent 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 www.collegefootball.org.

Favor was officially inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame during the Annual Enshrinement Festival on July 16 in South Bend, Ind. Other members of the 2011 Divisional Hall of Fame Class included Dexter Coakley (Appalachian State), Charles Haley (James Madison), Mickey Kobrosky (Trinity, Conn.) Coach Mike Kelly (Dayton) and Coach Bill Manlove (Widener University [Pa.], Delaware Valley College [Pa.], La Salle University).

The NFF launched its Divisional Hall of Fame program in 1996 during its annual enshrinement festival. A total of 130 players and coaches, counting this year’s class, have been inducted from the divisional ranks, including Terry Bradshaw (Louisiana Tech), Walter Payton (Jackson State), John Randle (Texas A&M-Kingsville), Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State), and coach Eddie Robinson (Grambling State). Of the 4.79 million who have played college football since 1869, only 896 players and 192 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

The 2011 season marks the second season that Fidelity Investments^®, a leading provider of not-for-profit workplace retirement savings plans in higher education, is serving as the national presenting sponsor of the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes. The NFF and Fidelity recently announced an expanded multi-year initiative between the two organizations to celebrate the scholar-athlete ideal and a joint commitment to higher education. The NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes are one component the sponsorship, which also includes Fidelity being named the first presenting sponsor of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards in the 53-year history of the prestigious program.