College Football Hall Of Fame Class Of 2008 Includes Holtz, Aikman

New York (AHN) -- Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz and UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman were among the 15 former players and coaches elected to the College Football Hall of Fame on Thursday.

Former LSU Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon actually was elected to the honor for a second time. He was elected in the early 1980s, but had his invitation rescinded after being arrested on federal counterfeiting charges.

Cannon, who played tailback and defensive back for LSU from 1957-59, served half of his five-year federal sentence after pleading guilty in 1983. He's been working as a dentist at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola (LA) for the past 13 years.

The other inductees in the Class of 2008 include Oklahoma State running back Thurman Thomas; Florida linebacker Wilber Marshall; Syracuse quarterback Don McPherson; Northwestern linebacker Pat Fitzgerald; Virginia offensive tackle Jim Dombrowski; Washington State running back Ruben Mayes; Wyoming tight end Jay Novacek; Texas Tech split end Dave Parks; Florida State nose guard Ron Simmons, Arizona State guard Randall McDaniel; Army quarterback Arnold Tucker; and Ohio State coach John Cooper.

Holtz won 249 games as a college football coach at six different schools, including the 1988 national championship at Notre Dame.

Said Holtz, "When I first heard I was going into the Hall of Fame, I went "Wow! Wow! How'd this happen? I just hope my induction will serve as an example to persevere. I've been fired and ridiculed and downgraded. That's all part of life. You just continue to move on."

Aikman, who later starred in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, began his college career at Oklahoma before transferring to UCLA where he had to two standout seasons with the Bruins in 1987 and '88.

The Class of 2008 will be inducted at a banquet in New York in December and enshrined in the summer of 2009 at the Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.