Desmond Howard, shown in Michigan Stadium in 2006, will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.

File photo

There are 34 players and coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame with ties to the University of Michigan.

Saturday is the day “Hello Heisman” joins their ranks.

Desmond Howard is among the headliners of the Hall's latest 20-person class, which includes 16 players and four coaches who will be enshrined in South Bend, Ind.

"At Michigan, with Coach (Bo) Schembechler and Coach (Gary) Moeller, it's never been about individualism, it's about the team, so I never had goals of becoming All-Big Ten or All-American, or even the Heisman," Howard said Thursday during a conference call with reporters. "So this deal here, the Hall of Fame, was never on my radar.

"It's a huge honor for me to be here in South Bend. I couldn’t be more proud to go in ... as a Wolverine."

Howard was a receiver and kick returner who played with the Wolverines from 1989-91. In that final season, he scored 19 touchdowns in the first 10 games, including a stretch of six games with at least two.

He also rushed for two scores and returned a kickoff for another.

The Ohio State game was his only 1991 regular-season game without a receiving touchdown — and the Cleveland native more than made up for it with a punt return for a touchdown that was punctuated by broadcaster Keith Jackson exclaiming “Hello, Heisman” as Howard struck the Heisman pose in the end zone on national TV.

The return helped seal Michigan’s 8-0 Big Ten record, a league title and, indeed, a Heisman trophy for Howard, who won the award by what was then a record margin.

"It's hard for me to believe (it was 20 years ago), especially when I look in the mirror and I'm 20 years older," Howard said. "Feels like it just happened. It really does.

"I still remember packing up my car with my dad to come up to Ann Arbor, and who knew the road would lead down to South Bend."

Howard got his Heisman campaign on track in the second week of the season, when he made a sprawling 25-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-one in the fourth quarter of a win against Notre Dame.

"The Heisman pose was the cherry on top, but what really got the ball rolling was that catch against Notre Dame," Howard said.

When asked which pose would better immortalize him, Howard went back-and-forth before settling on the catch against Notre Dame.

"It was really what put me on the map nationally for a lot of people, as far as being a legitimate Heisman candidate," Howard said. "The next thing I know, I’m on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and that’s what really got the ball rolling for me.

"I like both (poses), but if there's one shot of me, on that famous Notre Dame catch, I’m totally stretched out, but my legs are crossed. I'm not even sure how I did that. ... There was a kind of calm, relaxation there too. Beautiful."

Howard is the first Michigan great to be inducted since safety Dave Brown (1972-74) in 2007. Former head coach Lloyd Carr will join them at a ceremony in December.

Other Big Ten notables to be inducted Saturday include former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, who remains the school’s athletic director, and former Purdue quarterback Mark Herrmann.

How much does the induction mean to Howard?

"Yeah, I get a little choked up," he said, when asked if he becomes emotional while thinking about making a speech at the induction ceremony. "I'm a huge boxing fan. My dad had us watching boxing growing up.

"I went to the Boxing Hall of Fame a couple months ago, for Mike Tyson's induction. He couldn’t get through it, and I could visualize myself, thinking, 'Wow, that could be me, choked up.'"

Howard was drafted by the Washington Redskins with the fourth overall pick of the 1992 NFL draft. He played for five NFL teams, including the Detroit Lions, and was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXXI while with the Green Bay Packers.

He now works as a college football analyst for ESPN, and is a host on the network’s “College Gameday.”

Howard, who played in every game from 1989-91, finished his Michigan career with 134 catches for 2,145 yards and 32 receiving touchdowns.

But it was that electrifying season in 1991 when everything fell into place, and Howard secured his place in history.