MANHATTAN, Kan. – Michael Bishop, who helped revolutionize the game of college football as one of the first premiere dual-threat quarterbacks while playing for Kansas State in 1997 and 1998, has been selected to the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame Induction Class of 2023.
Bishop – whose dual-threat play at quarterback sparked the term “Wildcat Formation” that has been used extensively over the past two-plus decades – is the seventh K-State player or coach selected to college football’s highest honor and the fourth in the last 11 years. He joins former linebackers Gary Spani (Class of 2002) and Mark Simoneau (Class of 2012), and running back Darren Sproles (Class of 2021), as well as coaches Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf (Class of 1966), Charles Bachman (Class of 1978) and Bill Snyder (Class of 2015).
Joining Bishop as players in the Class of 2023 are Eric Berry (DB, Tennessee), Reggie Bush (RB, USC), Dwight Freeney (DE, Syracuse), Robert Gallery (OT, Iowa), LaMichael James (RB, Oregon), Derrick Johnson (LB, Texas), Bill Kollar (DT, Montana State), Luke Kuechly (LB, Boston College), Jeremy Maclin (WR/KR, Missouri), Terance Mathis (WR, New Mexico), Bryant McKinnie (OT, Miami), Corey Moore (DL, Virginia Tech), Michael Stonebreaker (LB, Notre Dame), Tim Tebow (QB, Florida), Troy Vincent (DB, Wisconsin), Brian Westbrook (RB, Villanova), DeAngelo Williams (RB, Memphis). The coaches in this year’s class are Monte Cater (Lakeland [WI], Shepherd [WV]), Paul Johnson (Georgia Southern, Navy, Georgia Tech), Roy Kramer (Central Michigan) and Mark Richt (Georgia, Miami).
When the 2023 Hall of Fame Class is officially inducted in December, only 1,074 players and 230 coaches will have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.62 million who have played or coached the game during the past 153 years. In other words, less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of the individuals who have played the game have earned this distinction.
The 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Class will officially be inducted during the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 5, 2023, at the ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas.
Bishop, who led the Wildcats to a 22-3 record during his two-year career, left K-State holding 26 game, season or career records, including career rushing yards by a quarterback (1,314), career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (23), lowest interception percentage in a season (1.36% in 1998), single-game passing yards (441 vs. Louisiana-Monroe in 1998), passing yards in a season (2,844 in 1998), passing touchdowns in a season (23 in 1998), career passing touchdowns (36), longest pass (97 yards vs. Louisiana-Monroe in 1998) and total offensive yards in a season (3,592 yards in 1998).
A product of Willis, Texas, who came to K-State from Blinn Junior College, Bishop won the Davey O’Brien Award in 1998 in addition to being a runner up for the Heisman Trophy and finalist for the Maxwell and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards. Bishop’s outstanding 1998 season came on the heels of a 1997 campaign in which he was named the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year and MVP of the 1997 Fiesta Bowl, a 35-18 victory over Syracuse.
Following his time at K-State, Bishop was drafted in 1999 by the New England Patriots. He later went on to play 10 seasons in the Canadian Football League, helping lead the Toronto Argonauts to a victory in the 2004 Grey Cup.
Bishop was selected to the K-State Football Ring of Honor in 2015, while a year later he was inducted into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
