University Park, Pa. — Former Penn State All-America tailback Curt Warner, the Nittany Lions’ career rushing yardage leader, will be enshrined in the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame on Saturday, July 17. Warner is the 17th Penn State student-athlete to receive college football’s ultimate honor.
Warner and all the class members will be honored at Saturday night’s Enshrinement Dinner and Show in South Bend, Ind., to cap Enshrinement Festival activities. Warner and the 17 other members of the Bowl Subdivision class were inducted last December at a black tie dinner in New York City. Four players and two coaches from the Divisional Class will join them this weekend.
A resident of Camas, Wash., Warner is the 22nd member of the Penn State program to gain enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, joining Joe Paterno, 16 other former players and four Nittany Lion coaches. Warner was back on campus in June, serving as a coach at Penn State’s 36th annual summer football camps.
"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to enshrine another exceptional class of college football legends," said NFF President & CEO Steven J. Hatchell. "Each year our hard-working honors courts do an outstanding job ensuring the game’s greatest players and coaches find their place on college football’s mountain top. We look forward to celebrating in South Bend with this amazing class and their loyal fans from around the country."
Fans have a variety of opportunities to meet and mingle with the enshrinees during the Enshrinement Festival. The weekend will include a celebrity golf tournament, a fan festival, a grand parade, a youth football clinic, a fireworks spectacular with the celebration culminating with the Enshrinement Dinner & Show on Saturday evening.
Hailing from the small town of Pineville, W. Va., Warner was a standout at Pineville High School, graduating in a class of 90 students. He went on to lead the Nittany Lions in rushing in 1980, ’81 and ’82, helping Penn State capture its first National Championship in 1982. Warner was instrumental in Penn State’s 31-5 record during his final three seasons, which included two Fiesta Bowl wins (Ohio State and USC) and a 27-23 win over Georgia in the 1983 Sugar Bowl for the National Championship.
When Warner’s brilliant career ended, he owned 42 school records. His 3,398 career rushing yards and 18 100-yard rushing games remain Penn State records more than 25 years later. The Nittany Lions were 18-0 when he eclipsed the century mark. Warner is the only Penn State running back to be selected a two-time first team All-American and is one of just 14 Nittany Lions all-time to earn first team All-America honors twice.
"Curt Warner was an outstanding running back," said head coach Joe Paterno, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007. "In all my years at Penn State, we have had a lot of exceptional backs, and he is one of the very best of that distinguished group. Curt was a leader for the great teams we had in the early 1980’s and played a big part in helping us win our first national championship. Curt was a very good student, has been very loyal to Penn State and has made a positive impact on his community in Washington."
In addition to his Penn State career rushing and 100-yard rushing game records, Warner also holds the school record for all-purpose yards in a game, with 341 at Syracuse in 1981. He ran for a career-best 256 yards vs. the Orange that day. His 280 all-purpose yards vs. Rutgers in 1979 remain a school freshman record. The only Nittany Lion to post more than 1,000 all-purpose yards in all four of his years, Warner is No. 2 in Penn State career all-purpose yards (4,982) and career rushing attempts (649).
Warner earned his Penn State degree in speech communications in 1983.
During the Akron game last season, Warner returned to campus and was recognized by Penn State and the National Football Foundation, who was represented by Matthew Sign, the NFF’s Chief Operating Officer, for his induction into the College Hall of Fame.