{"id":254618,"date":"2026-04-17T19:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/254618\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T19:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:29:10","slug":"cowboys-legend-among-many-stars-being-inducted-into-texas-sports-hof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/254618\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys legend among many stars being inducted into Texas Sports HOF"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img alt=\"Dallas Cowboys offensive guard Zack Martin (70) enters the field during the 2019 Dallas Cowboys Kickoff Luncheon on Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at AT&amp;T Stadium in Arlington. The luncheon benefitted the Dallas Cowboys Charity House at Happy Hill Farms. (Ashley Landis\/The Dallas Morning News)\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   style=\"aspect-ratio:4 \/ 3\" class=\"x100 y100 opc bgpc ofcv bgscv block bg-gray200 mnh0px fill\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Dallas Cowboys offensive guard Zack Martin (70) enters the field during the 2019 Dallas Cowboys Kickoff Luncheon on Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at AT&amp;T Stadium in Arlington. The luncheon benefitted the Dallas Cowboys Charity House at Happy Hill Farms. (Ashley Landis\/The Dallas Morning News)<\/p>\n<p>Ashley Landis\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n<p>Celebrating the 75th year since its founding, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco will induct <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/sports\/2025\/10\/30\/zack-martin-von-miller-among-inductees-to-texas-sports-hall-of-fames-class-of-2026\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">its nine-member Class of 2026<\/a> during Saturday night\u2019s banquet in the BASE at Extraco Event Center.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-channels-pixel.ex.co\/events\/0012000001fxZm9AAE?integrationType=DEFAULT&amp;template=design%2Farticle%2Fplatypus_two_column.tpl\" alt=\"\" class=\"x1px y1px vh abs\" aria-hidden=\"true\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The honorees represent an array of sports as diverse as Texas itself \u2013 pro and college football, college basketball, barrel racing and speed skating.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>Fans in North Texas are extra-familiar with three of the football honorees: Cowboys&#8217; nine-time Pro Bowl guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/sports\/cowboys\/2019\/05\/05\/10-things-you-might-not-know-about-zack-martin-like-why-he-was-nicknamed-the-butcher\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zack Martin<\/a>; DeSoto native, Texas A&amp;M star linebacker and 2015 Super Bowl MVP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/sports\/cowboys\/2022\/06\/03\/demarcus-ware-explains-why-his-dream-of-von-miller-joining-the-cowboys-didnt-come-true\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Von Miller<\/a>; and TCU\u2019s coach of 22 seasons, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/sports\/tcu-horned-frogs\/2021\/11\/03\/despite-building-an-unprecedented-legacy-at-tcu-gary-pattersons-eccentricities-ultimately-cost-him\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gary Patterson<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During Martin\u2019s 11-season Cowboys career (2014-2024) he was called for holding just seven times. Starting 162 NFL games, all as a Cowboy, Notre Dame product Martin, 35, earned a spot on the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.<\/p>\n<p>Miller, 37, was the NFL\u2019s No. 2 overall pick in 2011. Along with his Broncos\u2019 Super Bowl ring, he earned one with the Rams in 2021 and since has played for the Bills (2022-24) and Commanders (2025).<\/p>\n<p>Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=dallasnews.com\" data-link=\"native\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Add Preferred Source\" class=\"td300 cp f aic jcc disabled:cd wsn px24 y40px px16 py8 buttonSm fs13 xs:fs16 xs:buttonLg bg-primaryAccessible hover:o80 c-white disabled:bg-gray300 disabled:c-gray600 border bn tac br2\"><\/p>\n<p>Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Patterson\u2019s 181 victories are the most in TCU history, highlighted by the Horned Frogs\u2019 13-0 season in 2010 and final No. 3 ranking. Patterson, 66, in January was named defensive coordinator at USC under Lincoln Riley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>Another Class of 2026 member, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/sports\/fc-dallas\/2018\/08\/29\/flashback-deep-east-texas-clint-dempsey-had-to-take-the-long-way-to-world-cup-dream\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Clint Dempsey<\/a>, 43, hails from Nacogdoches, but his path to American and international soccer greatness was paved by his parents\u2019 six-hour roundtrips to Dallas so that Clint could play youth soccer for the Dallas Texans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The remaining Class of 2026:<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 The 1966 Texas Western Miners national championship basketball team, the first\u00a0NCAA titleist to field an all-Black starting lineup. The 28-1 Miners overcame segregation, hostile road crowds and were the subject of the 2006 film Glory Road.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Chad\u00a0Hedrick, 49, was born in Spring and became one of America\u2019s most decorated skaters in two sports \u2013 inline speed skating and long track speed ice skating. He won a combined five Olympic winter medals in Turin (2006) and Vancouver (2010).<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775031754_150_rawImage.jpg\" alt=\"image\" title=\"#\" class=\"x100\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall c-gray600\">By signing up, you agree to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/terms\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"underlinedButton fw500 tuo1px tdu tuo2px tdc-secondary tdt-px hover:o70 td300\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/privacy\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"underlinedButton fw500 tuo1px tdu tuo2px tdc-secondary tdt-px hover:o70 td300\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Amarillo native\u00a0Charmayne James is one of the most decorated rodeo athletes in history and a Class of 2017 Pro Rodeo Hall of Famer. James, 55, and her Bay Gelding, Scamper, dominated barrel racing from 1984 until 1993, winning 10 straight world titles \u2013 the first of which came when James was just 14.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Born in Houston and raised in Freer, Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve McMichael was an All-American tackle at Texas before embarking on his 15-year NFL career with the Patriots (1980), Bears (1981-1993) and Packers (1994). McMichael died last April 23 at age 67 due to ALS.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>\u2013Fort Worth native Louis Santop was a Negro League baseball star from 1909 to 1926, a 6-4 power hitter during the sport\u2019s \u201cdead ball\u201d era. Santop, a Navy serviceman during World War I, died in 1942 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.<\/p>\n<p>The Texas Sports Hall of Fame\u2019s inaugural inductee in 1951 was baseball great Tris Speaker, making Texas the first state to have its own sports hall of fame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys offensive guard Zack Martin (70) enters the field during the 2019 Dallas Cowboys Kickoff Luncheon on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[732,27,29,28,88145,96065],"class_list":{"0":"post-254618","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-article","9":"tag-texas","10":"tag-texas-headlines","11":"tag-texas-news","12":"tag-tp-colleges","13":"tag-tp-zack-martin"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}