COLUMBUS, Ohio – The College Football Hall of Fame is adding another Buckeye to enshrinement with the addition of former running back Keith Byars to the exclusive ranks. The announcement was just made to the world a few short minutes ago on ESPN2 as part of the latest class of soon-to-be inductees.

The Dayton (Ohio) native played under Earle Bruce at Ohio State from 1982-1985 and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1984 behind Doug Flutie. During that 1984 season, Byars would go on to rush for 1,764 yards on 336 carries and 22 touchdowns. Over the course his career, Byars would rush for 3,200 yards and 46 scores despite seeing only six carries during his freshman season and losing most of his senior season with only 55 carries during that final campaign.

That 1984 season would also see Byars named the Big Ten MVP as he was the NCAA rushing and scoring leader across Division I-A football that season.

Byars would go on to be picked No. 10 overall in the 1986 draft by the Philadelphia Eagles and would play there from 1986-1992 before finishing up his career with three more stops (Miami, New England and New York Jets) through the 1998 season.

The former Ohio State back would rush for 3,109 yards during his pro career and would catch 610 passes for 5,661 yards. He would combine for 54 touchdowns in the NFL and his 610 receptions would rank him as one of the all-time best pass-catching running backs/fullbacks in league history.

The Hall of Fame has specific criteria to be eligible for induction including that a player must have received a major first-team All-America award, be at least 10 years removed from their last game of college football and any professional football playing days must be completed.

Byars is the 26th Ohio State player to be chosen for the Hall of Fame along with 11 coaches who have spent part of their coaching careers with the Buckeyes.

Ohio State linebacker Tom Cousineau was inducted in the class of 2016 and was the most recent player to be added to the hall prior to Byars.