Former Cyclones and their performances in the Hall of Fame game

CANTON, Ohio — The National Football League is back, well, preseason football is back. We have a short while to go until the Kansas City Chiefs host the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7 at 7:20 p.m. CDT.

This article hopes to document how Iowa State’s football alumni performed in the Canton classic, but it will also be limited by the recaps seen in newspapers.

The first Cyclone to appear in the Hall of Fame game was the late Tom Vaughn, who in the 1965 edition of the game intercepted a Sonny Jurgensen (enshrined in Canton in 1983) pass on the goal line and returned it 43 yards.

Members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 1965 include: Guy Chamberlin, John (Paddy) Driscoll, Dan Fortmann, Otto Graham, Sid Luckman, Steve Van Buren and Bob Waterfield.

Halfback Tom Watkins appeared in 11 of the Lions 14 games, but no stats could be found on if he played with Vaughn or not. The Lions fell 20-3.

Keith Krepfle led the Eagles with 35 receiving yards on two receptions from Ron Jaworski in the 1978 version of the Hall of Fame game.

Members of the Class of 1978 include: Lance Alworth, Weeb Ewbank, Alphonse“Tuffy” Leemans, Ray Nitschke and Larry Wilson.

19,255 fans saw the Eagles win 17-3.

Still from ABC’s Wide World of Sports broadcast of the game. The 1985 Hall of Fame class included: O.J. Simpson, Roger Staubach, Joe Namath, Frank Gatski and Pete Rozelle.

In the 1985 edition of the game, Karl Nelson started at right tackle for the New York Giants. Mike Stensrud appeared at nose tackle for the Oilers and inadvertently injured Giants quarterback Phil Simms. Simms “lacerated the pinky on his throwing hand and exposed a tendon 13 minutes into the NFL’s first 1985 preseason show[…] […]The cut required three stitches at nearby Aultman Hospital.” Newsday | Aug 4. 1985

Nelson and his New York teammates ended up victorious, 21-20.

Dennis Gibson, in his fifth NFL season helped the Lions defeatedJohn Elway and the Broncos 14-3 in 1991, where he finished with either four or six tackles.

A view of a ticket for the 1991 AFC-NFC Hall of Fame game. The following people were inducted into the hall: Earl Campbell, Jan Stenerud, John Hannah, Stan Jones and Tex Schramm.

Sage Rosenfels appeared in Miami’s 27-24 loss to the Chicago Bears in 2005. Rosenfels went 6-of-9 passing, including a third quarter touchdown pass to Jason Rader which put Miami up 17-7. He also had a rush for two yards.

Dan Marino, Steve Young, Benny Friedman and Fritz Pollard were enshrined into the Hall of Fame in 2005.

In the 2023 edition of the Hall of Fame game, former Cyclones Allen Lazard, Breece Hall and Will McDonald IV all were part of the New York Jets contingent taking on the Cleveland Browns.

New York Jet Will McDonald (99) tries to elude Cleveland Brown Hunter Thedford during Thursday night’s Hall of Fame game. McDonald finished with three tackles and one hit on the quarterback in the Jets’ 21-16 loss. Photo courtesy newyorkjets.com | The following people are now forever enshrined in Canton, Ohio. Ronde Barber, Darrelle Revis, Joe Thomas, Zach Thomas, DeMarcus Ware, Don Coryell, Chuck Howley, Joe Klecko and Ken Riley.