Sept. 6, 2016

Former University of Notre Dame and Pittsburgh Steeler standout running back Jerome Bettis, a Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinee in 2015, will be inducted Wednesday night (Sept. 7) into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.

The annual induction ceremonies will take place at McCormick Place West in Chicago. Proceeds from the event benefit the Standing Tall Charitable Foundation, the Chicago Sports Commission and World Sport Chicago.

Bettis will receive the Gale Sayers Lifetime Achievement Award.

Bettis, one of the most heralded fullbacks in Notre Dame history, played three seasons (1990-92) in an Irish uniform compiling 2,356 career yards (1,927 rushing, 429 receiving) and 27 TDs during his collegiate career. During the 1991 season, Bettis established program records for most TDs (20) and points (121) in a season. He additionally led the Irish in rushing yards (977) during his sophomore year.

Bettis holds Notre Dame’s bowl game records in rushing yards (150) and rushing TDs (three) after leading Notre Dame to a 39-28 win over Florida in the 1992 Sugar Bowl.

The Los Angeles Rams selected Bettis as the 10th overall pick in the 1993 NFL draft. During his rookie season, he ranked second in the league in rushing yards (1,429) and was the Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year and United Press International NFL-NFC Rookie of the Year. His rushing total was seventh-best in league history.

During his three-year stint with the Rams (1993-95), Bettis led the team in rushing each year and topped 1,000 yards on the ground in each of his first two seasons.

Bettis joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1996 where he rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of his first six seasons with the Steelers and was the franchise’s leading rusher from 1996-2001 and 2003-04. His 50 games of at least 100 yards rushing rank first in Pittsburgh’s history. At the time of his retirement, his eight 1,000-plus yard seasons was tied for third-best in NFL history and his 13,662 rushing yards ranked fifth all-time in league annals.

Bettis was a member of the Super Bowl XL championship team collecting 43 yards on the ground to help the Steelers surpass the Seahawks with a 21-10 victory. He played in the Pro Bowl on six occasions, was named to the All-Pro team on three occasions and named team MVP three other times. Bettis added 1,449 receiving yards and 91 total TDs over his 13-year NFL career.

Bettis joins a long list of Notre Dame representatives in the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame–including Norman J. Barry, Pete Bercich, Rocky Bleier, Stan Bowman, Terry Brennan, Tony Carey, Dave Casper, Connor, Ziggy Czarobski, Dave Duerson, Jerry Groom, Tim Grunhard, Tommy Hawkins, Paul Hornung, Jim Johnson, Moose Krause, Bob Kuechenberg, John Lattner, Elmer Layden, Frank Leahy, Andy McKenna, Ara Parseghian, John Paxson, Nick Rassas, Knute Rockne, Jim Seymour, Dan Shannon, Father John Smyth, Gene Sullivan, Tom Thayer, Renaldo Wynn, Tom Zbikowski and Chris Zorich.