Mark May inducted into College Football Hall of Fame

Do you ever wonder why that one ESPN college football analyst is the first, and sometimes… Do you ever wonder why that one ESPN college football analyst is the first, and sometimes only, personality to give Pitt football some credit?

Those not acquainted with the past can stop wondering, for the man is Mark May, a former standout offensive tackle for Pitt who was added to the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2005 induction class last week.

“I am definitely humbled,” May said in a press release. “It is amazing how a career goes and how life goes. Someone asked me earlier what this means to me. Well it means a lot to me. This is the pinnacle. The people who worked so hard around me at the University of Pittsburgh, family and friends, this is all for them. I will cherish this for the rest of my life.”

May, the 23rd Pitt player to earn such honors, won the Outland Trophy, awarded to college football’s top interior lineman, in 1980, his final year as a Panther. The Oneonta, N.Y., native anchored a strong offensive line in his four years at Pitt, and his strong play mirrored the team’s success.

The Panthers collected a 39-8-1 record in his four years, highlighted by the class’ 11-1 campaign in May’s final season, accompanied by a No. 2 finish in the Associated Press Poll and a No. 1 finish in The New York Times’ computer poll. The team went to a bowl game each season May was in a Panther uniform and finished in the Top 10 in all but one season.

“We had such great teams (at Pitt),” May said. “To join three other players in the College Hall of Fame who I played with — Hugh Green, Dan Marino and Jim Covert — it is truly an honor.”

Individually, May didn’t give up a sack over his junior and senior seasons on his way to unanimous All-American status and the Outland Trophy his senior year. He remains Pitt’s only recipient of the award.

The Washington Redskins selected May with the 20th overall pick in the first round of the 1981 NFL draft. He was an integral part of three Redskin Super Bowl teams in 1982, 1983 and 1987. May collected two rings with Super Bowl victories in ’82 and ’87 before enjoying a Pro Bowl season the following year in 1988 when he gave up only one sack in a season where he was the sole Redskin offensive player to start every game.

He remained with the Redskins until 1990 before brief stints with the San Diego Chargers and Phoenix Cardinals. Upon his 1993 retirement, he began a career in broadcasting, working initially with CBS and TNT as an analyst for NFL broadcasts.

In 2001, he joined ESPN as a studio host and color analyst for college football, his most notable work coming on “College Gamenight.” In that same year, the University honored May by making him the eighth Pitt player to have his jersey retired.

Joining May in this year’s induction class are a dozen other players and coaches, including Cornelius Bennett, Tom Curtis, Anthony Davis, Keith Dorney, Pat Dye, Jim Houston, John Huarte, Roosevelt Leaks, Don Nehlen, Joe Washington, Paul Wiggin and David Williams.