PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State University and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame honored Mike Utley with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments. The Salute took place Oct. take 15 during the Washington State-UCLA football game at Martin Stadium, which the cougars won 27-21.

"This is very overwhelming," Utley said in a release after the announcement in January. "Washington State University and head coach Jim Walden gave me an opportunity and I told him I would give 100 percent of myself. Playing for the Cougars was a wonderful experience and hopefully I've been able to pay it forward."
 
For the presentation, Utley was joined on the field by Washington State University Director of Athletics Bill Moos, National Football Foundation Chief Operating Office Matthew Sign, National Football Foundation Board Member Jon Taylor, Fidelity Investments representative Scott Bruce, Utley's wife, Danielle, along with former offensive line coaches Steve Morton and Gregg Smith.


A three-time All-Pac-10 selection, Utley earned First Team accolades in 1988 after leading Washington State to its best record in 58 years and a triumphed in the Aloha Bowl, which marked the school's first postseason win since 1916. He was named team MVP as a senior after anchoring one of the most prolific offenses in school history, including 3,000-yard passer Timm Rosenbach and two 1,000-yard rushers.


Utley led the Cougars to their first-ever win against a No. 1 team in 1988 against UCLA, and he guided an offense that led the Pac-10 and ranked third nationally in total offense. After starting a then school-record 43-straight games, Utley was invited to the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Game. He was inducted into the Washington State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004, and the team's Offensive Lineman of the Year Award carries his name.


Taken in the third round of the 1989 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, Utley played three seasons in the NFL before suffering from spinal cord injuries that left him paralyzed from the chest and elbows down. He has since regained the use of his shoulders, arms and hands, and even has partial movement in his legs. The Lions renamed their Spirit Award as the Mike Utley Spirit Award in his honor. He received the WSU Alumni Achievement Award in 2007 and the Walter Camp Man of the Year Award in 2006.


Since his paralysis, Utley has won dozens of awards for community service and his work with those suffering from spinal cord injuries. He established the Mike Utley Foundation in 1992, which provides research, rehab and education for those living with spinal cord injuries and financially supports rehabilitation projects as well as patient/family assistance programs.


Utley provides three scholarships for patients at Detroit Medical Center's Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, and he founded the Mike Utley Rehabilitation Scholarship Program. He also established the Mike Utley Center for Human Performance in Detroit, the Mike Utley Terrain Park in Englewood, Colo. And the Mike Utley Terrain Training Course in Atlanta.
 
Utley becomes the fourth Cougar to be inducted, joining Glen Edwards (1929-31), Mel Hein (1928-30) and Rueben Mayes (1982-85). Three coaches with stops in Pullman are also in the Hall: William "Lone Star" Dietz (1915-17), Forest Evashevski (1950-51) and Orin "Babe"Hollingbery (1926-42).
 
The 2016 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted at the 59^th NFF Annual Awards Dinner, held at New York City's historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Tuesday, Dec. 6. The inductees will also be honored at the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 31, and they will also take part in a series of events at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta where their accomplishments will be forever immortalized.