NEW YORK (ABC 4 Sports) - It was a career filled with accolades, and now it's culminating with a place in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Former BYU quarterback Ty Detmer was inducted Tuesday night in a ceremony in New York City.
"Anytime you're mentioned with the Hall of Fame, it shows the body of work you've put in," Detmer said.
It was quite a body of work. Detmer is still the only player from the Rocky Mountain region ever to win the Heisman Trophy. Detmer won the award in 1990 after passing for 5,138 yards and 41 touchdowns in leading the Cougars to a 10-3 record. He was a consensus All-American in 1990 and 1991, winning the Davey O'Brien Award in both seasons. he was the first quarterback ever to throw for over 15,000 career yards. When he left BYU, Detmer owned 63 NCAA passing records.
But of all the honors he has received, Detmer puts this one right up there with them all.
"More importantly, I feel like I'm representing the teams that we had there at BYU during those years," Detmer said. "As a quarterback, it takes everybody around you to make you look good. The coaches I was able to play for, it was just a great experience."
Detmer, who went on to play 14 seasons in the NFL, has so many fond memories of his time at BYU. There were so many exciting games, but one stands out more than the rest.
"Beating Miami at home (in 1990) when they were ranked #1 in the nation was a great thrill," Detmer said. "Playing for coach [LaVell] Edwards, we had a wide open offense and a lot of exciting games. Just the whole overall college experience was awesome."
With Detmer's induction, BYU's Hall of Fame Inductees will include Gifford Nielsen (1994), Marc Wilson (1996), Jim McMahon (1998), LaVell Edwards (2004), Steve Young (2005), Gordon Hudson (2009) and Ty Detmer (2012). BYU will now feature five quarterbacks in the Hall, second only to Notre Dame's nine signal callers enshrined.
