Looking over his latest individual accolade, Curt Warner admits this one "has to be at the top."
The former Penn State running back, who was a Nittany Lion from 1979-1982, was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the 2009 class during an announcement at NASDAQ MarketSite Thursday in New York City.
"I'm very pleased," Warner said in a telephone interview Thursday. "Honored, pleased. It's a very prestigious group to be affiliated with. It's always good to hear things like that."
Warner becomes the 17th Penn State player to be elected into the hall. In all, 22 members of the program are in the hall of fame. Part of the criteria to be inducted is a player must be a first-team All-American at least once.
He will be the first Lion player to be inducted since offensive lineman Keith Dorney in 2005. Penn State head coach Joe Paterno was inducted in 2007.
During his collegiate career, Warner amassed 3,398 rushing yards and had 18 100-yard rushing games -- both are still Penn State records. In those 100-yard games, the Lions went 18-0.
"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," Paterno said in a press release. "Curt was a leader for the great teams we had in the early 1980s 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."
The induction ceremony will be December 8 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Fifteen other players will join Warner in the hall of fame his year, including Notre Dame
wide receiver Tim Brown and Miami quarterback Gino Torretta.
Two coaches will also be enshrined: Dick MacPherson and John Robinson.
MacPherson coached at Massachusetts and at Syracuse. He was at Syracuse from 1981-1990 and coached against Warner.
"He set many records at Penn State," MacPherson said. "Look at them, they're all against Syracuse -- over 300 yards in one game. I like him. He had to be the best back Joe Paterno ever had. He did it wherever he was. You can't get any better than him."
Against Syracuse in 1981, Warner set the school record for all-purpose yards in a game when he posted 341 in a 41-16 win.
Warner said he found out he was elected in when he got a phone call from athletic director Tim Curley on Wednesday. The running back will be the first player from Paterno's first national title team to be inducted.
The two-time All-American went on to play in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams. As a rookie in 1983, he was third in the league in rushing yards.
When it comes to his family's reaction, Warner said his wife, Ana, was pleased. He also joked that one of his sons, who he called a reserved person, had a good reaction, adding it "got his attention."
Warner said he plans to be at the induction ceremony and his greatest memory is winning the national championship his senior season. He called the experience one where "we can all share about the history of being a national champion."
He also said he was exchanging voice messages with Todd Blackledge on Thursday. Blackledge was Warner's quarterback and was the signal caller for the championship season.
Football historian Lou Prato said Warner deserved the induction "a long time ago" and that if the back had been playing back in the 1950s and '60s, he would have been a great defensive back on top of a running back.
Although Prato said he doesn't know Warner well, he said he was a great team player.
"It was the most balanced offense we had in Penn State football history at that point," Prato said. "He had to sacrifice himself for a secondary role. He did it for the team."
When it came to waiting for the announcement, Warner said his approach was that he took the idea of "when it happens, it happens."
"It hasn't sunk in yet," Warner said. "It takes a while for it to actually hit."
