Pro Football Hall of Famer Richard Dent was one of seven men selected Wednesday for induction into the Black College Football Hall of Fame.
The Hall was established in 2009 to honor the best players and coaches from historically black colleges and universities.
Dent, who played at Tennessee State and starred in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, was joined on the inductees list by Roger Brown, L.C. Greenwood, Ernie "Big Cat" Ladd, Ken Riley, Donnie Shell and former Jackson State coach W.C. Gorden.
The seven will go into the Hall on Feb. 28. They were selected by a 13-member committee of journalists, commentators, historians and former NFL executives.
Brown was a defensive tackle at Maryland-Eastern Shore and in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams. He played 10 seasons in the NFL and was a six-time Pro Bowler.
Dent was a defensive end at Tennessee State and played 15 seasons in the NFL, with the Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles. He was a five-time All-Pro and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. Dent was MVP of Super Bowl XX with the Bears.
Greenwood was a defensive end at Arkansas-Pine Bluff and for 13 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a two-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler, and was named to the NFL's All-Decade team for the 1970s. He died last December.
Ladd was a defensive tackle at Grambling and played eight seasons in the NFL, with the San Diego Chargers, Houston Oilers and Kansas City Chiefs. He was a four-time AFL All-Star and later became a pro wrestler of some renown. Ladd died in 2007.
Riley was a quarterback at Florida A&M and was moved to cornerback by the Cincinnati Bengals. He played 14 seasons with the Bengals and was a four-time All-Pro. Riley had 65 interceptions in his career, which is a Bengals record and was fourth-most in NFL history when he retired in 1983.
Shell was a safety at South Carolina State and with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played 14 seasons for the Steelers after being signed as an undrafted free agent. Shell was a four-time All-Pro and a five-time Pro Bowler who had 51 career interceptions.
Gorden coached Jackson State from 1977-91, and guided the Tigers to eight Southwestern Athletic Conference championships. He was 118-47-5 with Jackson State.
That brings the number of inductees to 58. Among those already enshrined are Grambling's Buck Buchanan, Mississippi Valley State's David "Deacon" Jones, Bethune-Cookman's Larry Little, Alcorn State's Steve McNair, Jackson State's Walter Payton, Mississippi Valley State's Jerry Rice, Alabama A&M wide receiver John Stallworth, Texas Southern defensive end Michael Strahan and Grambling coach Eddie Robinson.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
