Sammy White to be inducted into Black College Football Hall of Fame this weekend

One of the all-time great performers in Minnesota Vikings’ history will be recognized this weekend for what he did on the college gridiron.

Sammy White, who had an outstanding career at Grambling State before moving on to play for the Vikings for a decade, will be one of the newest members of the Black College Football Hall of Fame when its new class is inducted on Saturday in Atlanta.

During his time at Grambling State under the legendary Eddie Robinson, White was a two-time All-Southwestern Athletic Conference selection. As a senior in 1975, he caught just 37 passes. . .but 17 of those catches went for touchdowns. (That’s a pretty damn impressive ratio.) His quarterback for his final two seasons was another guy that went on to significant success in Doug Williams, who won a Super Bowl with Washington and eventually became Robinson’s successor at Grambling State.

White was then selected by the Vikings in the second round of the 1976 NFL Draft and went on to win the league’s Rookie of the Year Award that season. His name can still be found all over the Vikings’ record books, as he’s still fifth in team history in receiving yardage (6,400) and fourth in receiving touchdowns (50). His 393 receptions as a member of the Vikings places him ninth in franchise history.

There are some other names that Vikings fans will be familiar with in this year’s Black College Football Hall of Fame class. Here’s the full list of players and contributors that will be inducted:

• Ben Coates, TE, Livingstone College
• Donald Driver, WR, Alcorn State
• John “Big Train” Moody, RB, Morris Brown College
• Roscoe Nance, contributor, Tuskeegee University
• Nate Newton, OL, Florida A&M
• William “Billy” Nicks, coach, Morris Brown College and Prairie View A&M

Congratulations to Sammy White and the rest of this year’s Black College Football Hall of Fame inductees!