Former Kansas State football quarterback Michael Bishop elected to College Football Hall
MANHATTAN — It was a long time coming, but Michael Bishop is headed to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Bishop, Kansas State's quarterback during one of the program's most successful two-year stretches in 1997 and '98, got the call Monday and is part of a 2023 induction class that includes 18 players and four coaches.
Bishop also is the seventh K-State player or coach selected for the honor in the past 11 years, joining former linebackers Gary Spani (class of 2002) and Mark Simoneau (2012), running back Darren Sproles (2021) and coaches Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf (1966), Charles Bachman (1978) and Bill Snyder (2015).
Bishop, one of the first true dual-threat college quarterbacks, helped lead K-State to a 22-3 record in his two seasons, including a Fiesta Bowl victory in 1997 and a spot in the Big 12 championship game the following year. In only two seasons with the Wildcats, he set 26 single-game, season and career records, including career rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,314, career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 23, single-game passing yards with 441 against Louisiana-Monroe in 1998 and season passing yards (2,844) and touchdowns (23) in 1998.
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Bishop, who is from Willis, Texas, came to K-State after two standout years at Blinn Junior College, and in 1998 he won the Davey O'Brien Award, while also finishing as runner-up for the Heisman Trophy and was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
In 1997, Bishop was named Big 12 offensive newcomer of the year and most valuable player in the Wildcats' 35-18 Fiesta Bowl victory over Syracuse. He was also inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2012, selected to K-State's football Ring of Honor in 2015 and the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.
Bishop was drafted by the New England Patriots in 1999 and went on to play 10 seasons in the Canadian Football League, where he helped the Toronto Argonauts to the 2004 Grey Cup.
The 2023 College Football Hall of Fame class will be inducted during the National Football Foundation's annual awards dinner in Las Vegas on Dec. 5, 2023.
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The other players in the 2023 induction class are Eric Berry (DB, Tennessee), Reggie Bush (RB, USC), Dwight Freeney (DE, Syracuse), Robert Gallery (OT, Iowa), LaMichael James (RB, Oregon), Derrick Johnson (LB, Texas), Bill Kollar (DT, Montana State), Luke Kuechly (LB, Boston College), Jeremy Maclin (WR/KR, Missouri), Terance Mathis (WR, New Mexico), Bryant McKinnie (OT, Miami), Corey Moore (DL, Virginia Tech), Michael Stonebraker (LB, Notre Dame), Tim Tebow (QB, Florida), Troy Vincent (DB, Wisconsin), Brian Westbrook (RB, Villanova) and DeAngelo Williams (RB, Memphis).
The coaches in the class are Monte Carter (Lakeland, Wisconsin and Shepherd, West Virginia), Paul Johnson (Georgia Southern, Navy, Georgia Tech), Roy Kramer (Central Michigan) and Mark Richt (Georgia, Miami).
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State's Michael Bishop to join College Football Hall of Fame
