FAYETTEVILLE -- Former Razorback football All-American and Denver Broncos' All-Pro safety Steve Atwater will be among nine honorees inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame on Sept. 10 in a luncheon at the Brown-Lupton University Union on the TCU campus in Fort Worth, Texas.
Hosted by the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, the event will honor Atwater as well as other legends from schools previously affiliated with the Southwest Conference.
"Steve Atwater has long been a Razorback football legend, and soon he will be a member of the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame," said Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek. "He helped lead Arkansas to a conference championship and four bowl games before going on to an outstanding NFL career. We look forward to celebrating with Steve and his family in September as he is honored as one of the best to ever compete in the Southwest Conference."
Atwater is a member of the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, as well as the school's All-Century and All-Decade teams. He was named to three All-America teams as a senior in 1988 -- second-team by Associated Press and Sporting News and third-team by Football News. Atwater was a three-time All-Southwest Conference performer as a second-team selection in 1987 and a first-team selection in 1986 and 1988.
The St. Louis native still holds the school record of 14 career interceptions. He also recorded 229 career tackles and 28 pass deflections in his Razorback career.
Atwater had 70 tackles, nine passes broken up and four interceptions in 1988, helping Arkansas to a 10-2 record, a Cotton Bowl appearance and the Southwest Conference championship. The Hogs were a combined 38-11 in his four years with appearances in the Cotton, Liberty, Orange and Holiday bowls, and finished ranked 12th, 15th and 12th following his freshman, sophomore and senior seasons, respectively.
The 20th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos in 1989, he played 11 years in the NFL, finishing with 818 tackles and 24 interceptions, and helping the Broncos win Super Bowl titles in 1997 and 1998. He was selected to the Pro Bowl eight times, second most in franchise history. Atwater started all 155 games while he was with Denver, with 14 postseason starts including in Super Bowl XXXII where he posted one of the best performances ever by a safety in a Super Bowl. He ended his career with the New York Jets.
In addition to Atwater, the 2018 class includes Tommy Bowman, All-SWC Baylor basketball player; Larry Micheaux, All-American basketball player for Houston; Victor Lopez, former women's track and field coach from Rice; Denny Holman, basketball standout for SMU; Brooks Kieschnick, All-American basketball player for Texas; Curtis Dickey, Texas A&M football and track legend; Kurt Thomas, former TCU basketball star; and Joe Barnes, an All-SWC quarterback for Texas Tech.
"In 2018 we have yet another outstanding group of student-athletes who exemplify what made the Southwest Conference so great; these elite athletes represented their schools with distinction," said Cooper Jones, the president and CEO of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. "The Southwest Conference Hall of Fame exists to honor a proud tradition of excellence in sports in the southwest."
"The class of 2018 is legendary," Jones added. "It is legendary because of the character and accomplishments of these talented student-athletes."
The Southwest Conference Hall of Fame is one of four separate halls of fame housed within the Texas Sports Hall of Fame's physical structure. They include the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame, the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and, now, the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame.
Sports on 07/05/2018