The National Football Foundation this morning officially announced the 2012 Football Bowl Subdivision College Football Hall of Fame Class. Texas Tech's Gabe Rivera is one of 13 players and three coaches to be inducted into this year's class.

Rivera dominated the Southwest Conference during his four-year career that spanned from 1979-1982.  One of the most feared defensive linemen in college football, Rivera compiled 321 career tackles, 34 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, 11 pass deflections and six fumble recoveries.  He garnered consensus First-Team All-America honors his senior season in 1982 while also being named an Honorable-Mention All-American as a sophomore in 1980.  In 1993, Rivera was inducted into the Texas Tech Hall of Honor and then to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

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"Texas Tech is proud this honor has been bestowed on Gabe Rivera and it is well deserved,” Texas Tech President Guy Bailey said. "Through his prowess as a defensive lineman and his ability to disrupt an opposing backfield, Gabe is forever etched as one of the great players in Red Raider history, and the college football community is recognizing that with its highest honor."

The 2012 Hall of Fame Class, as announced by the National Football Foundation, consists of:  Charles Alexander, RB, LSU; Otis Armstrong, RB, Purdue; Steve Bartowski, QB, California; Hal Bedsole, SE, USC; Dave Casper, TE, Notre Dame; Ty Detmer, QB, BYU; Tommy Kramer, QB, Rice; Art Monk, WR, Syracuse; Greg Myers, DB, Colorado State; Jonathan Ogden, Offensive Tackle, UCLA; Gabe Rivera, DL, Texas Tech; Mark Simoneau, LB, Kansas State; Scott Thomas, Safety, Air Force; John Wooten, Offensive Guard, Colorado; Phillip Fulmer, Head Coach, University of Tennessee; Jimmy Johnson, Head Coach, Miami; R.C. Slocum, Head Coach, Texas A&M .  The class will be inducted into the hall of fame at the 2012 National Football Foundation Awards Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City on December 4, while the enshrinement will take place in the summer of 2013.

“The National Football Foundation has recognized one of the greatest Texas Tech players to wear the Double T in Gabe Rivera,” Texas Tech Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt noted.  “His impact on our football program was tremendous and his legacy at Texas Tech will be forever.  We are grateful that his career has been recognized at the national level with induction into college football’s most exclusive fraternity.”

"On behalf of every Red Raider that has been part of the Texas Tech Football program, I congratulate Gabe Rivera on his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame,” Texas Tech Head Football Coach Tommy Tuberville said.  “Induction into the Hall of Fame is the greatest honor that a college football player can receive and Gabe’s career at Texas Tech was undoubtedly worthy of this honor.”

Three other Red Raiders have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Dave Parks was enshrined in 2008.  E.J. Holub was Tech’s first member of the hall as he was enshrined in 1986 and was followed by Donny Anderson in 1989.

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