FORD STADIUM 'RING OF HONOR'?

[MrMustang1965]

Has there been any consideration of a 'ring of honor' at Ford Stadium (names posted INSIDE the stadium where fans of BOTH teams can see them!) since it was built?

Who would YOU want to see on SMU's 'ring of honor' at Ford Stadium? The floor is open for nominations!

I'll open the 'debate' with these two nominees: Doak Walker & Kyle Rote!

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"Winning ain't everything...but it's a lot more fun than the alternative!"

[SMUPonyFan]

I am glad someone posted about this. There needs to be a ring of honor. Here is the problem...They retired Doak, Dickerson, Hunt, Gregg, and Berry's Jerseys. I see that they are the only Mustangs in the NFL hall of fame, but there were players at SMU that were comparable or better thant he proceeding WHILE they were at SMU. Some that deserve to be listed with the above are James, Carter, Rote, Meredith and Levias. I believe that the 10 names listed above are all the highest tier players in SMU history.

So there is no way to solve this problem. But you could start the ring of honor. One thing I love to do is go into stadium at other schools or teams and see the ring of honor. It brings notariety to the school. Most people do not relize where great players went to school, so when visitors/recruits come to Ford and see the names I listed above, they understand the true history of SMU football.

Here is my list of Ring of Honorees:
Doak Walker
Kyle Rote
Eric Dickerson
Craig James
Jerry Levias
Forrest Gregg
Lamar Hunt
Raymond Berry
Don Meredith
Michael Carter
Reggie Dupard
Jerry Ball
Harvey Armstrong
Louie Kelcher
Hacksaw Jim Dugan

That is a strong list of names. Imagine seeing Ford Stadium as a recruit and looking at that list!

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Go Red, Go Blue, Go Mustangs, S M U

[H-E-B Mustang]

I nominate Gary Hammond. As I recall, he was an all-Southwest Conference selection three years from 1969 to 1971. Each year at a different position: receiver, running back, quarterback. Then, he played for five years in the NFL.

[Pegasus]

I second that! When I was a kid, #17 was my hero! The great Gary Hammond!

[No Cal Pony]

Hammond id a good additin to the list. But what about Wes Hopkins? As for the ring, I think it is only an okay idea. It can be too har to select such past players to list. I'd rather that we incorporate such a concept within the the stadium, and in particular, Heritage Hall. (Along the lines of the USC Trojan Heritage Hall.) That way, we can allow for more of the great players to be honored. I am proud of ALL of our players. I loved wandering the halls of the stadium, and lloking at the team photos on the walls. I got to know players while at SMU, and want them all (with the exception of one) to be honored. PX was there with me and players I knew and liked. T-Man never made it big, but at SMU, he was a solid player, and a good guy.

My point is that we should build our tradition back up. Every player should have pride and honor for coming to SMU.

Go Ponies!

[Bergermeister]

This could go on and on... I never was a fan of retiring numbers. Put'em in a "Ring" of Honor -- (come up with another name) but I don't think we should "retire" numbers. What was the rationale in retiring Lamar Hunt's number? He is probably the ultimate contributor, friend of the program, friend of the university and fan, but I don't recall him being such a hot commodity football player. I want to add my nominee to the list: Billy Bob Stewart. We had many outstanding (if not great) football players who played both ways before platoon football came around. Seems like these "rings" leave out a lot of guys who worked the trenches to facilitate the backs' and receivers' stats.

[Putt Choate fan]

What about the Putt??!!

[Johnny Rock]

I think that a 'ring of honor' is a great idea!!! I would love to see this or at least have a place in the stadium where their names are displayed with their numbers. Even if it was indoors in a museum type setting to honor the great players. It would also be a good selling point to recruits. My ideas do not count, though, because I do not contribute money to the program. The heavyweights need to get this done.

[MrMustang1965]

Johnny Rock: Your ideas DO count!!! Just because you don't contribute $$$ to the program (at least at this time) does NOT mean that your ideas don't count! It's people like you and me and the others who post on this board who get the 'ideas' going for the Mustangs...don't let your creativity or spirit flounder just because you don't have deep pockets. You never know who has $$$ that will see what we post here and carry through with it! So...keep your ideas coming! S.M.U. SPIRIT: IT STARTS NOW!


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"Winning ain't everything...but it's a lot more fun than the alternative!" S.M.U. SPIRIT: IT STARTS NOW!

[OldPony]

Jerry Mays, Mike Richardson, John LaGrone and someone needs to speak up for the early days.

[OldPony]

Another thought. Why does it have to be a ring or a hall? Why not both? The ring could be reserved for those who made a consensus AA team and the hall include other great performers too.

[ponyte]

I would add Chuck Hixon, Fred Benners, and Don Mudd to the list.

[SMUPonyFan]

I think if you do something in Heritage Hall you should do it in the stadium too. Not everyone goes through heritage hall or knows about it. It would be a large recruiting factor to see those names in the stadium where you are thinking about playing. Also, for visiting fans to see those names is an intimidation factor.

[MrMustang1965]

While I think Heritage Hall is a great place to visit, there are some 'errors' there. Also, from what I've been told, it's a 'privately run' museum-type place. The error that was pointed out to me recently was there's a black and white photo from the 40s identifying a group of young men as one of the athletic teams (I apologize that I can't remember which one at this time)...it turns out that it's actually a group of fraternity members. I've also been made aware that there are quite a few mementos that have been donated to Heritage Hall that are sitting in mothballs because there's no place to store them or there's been no fundraising efforts to expand Heritage Hall to display them. (Of course, the question is: how would you expand Heritage Hall? It's confined to a very small space in Ford Stadium without any room to grow.)

So...the question remains: do we encourage the SMU administration to start a 'ring of honor' (for lack of a better term, at this time) and/or an SMU Athletic Hall of Fame?



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"Winning ain't everything...but it's a lot more fun than the alternative!" S.M.U. SPIRIT: IT STARTS NOW!