FAMU's Rudy Hubbard relieved after Black College Football HOF induction

He also has a street named after him near FAMU’s campus in Tallahassee, where he still lives today at 80 years old, and received a key to the city from Mayor John Dailey in 2021.

Those recognitions made Hubbard wonder what the holdup was to join the Black College Hall of Fame, which inducted its first class in 2010. It led him to express public discontent.

“I probably said some things that I didn’t need to say,” he explained.

The living legend said he took some time to apologize to Co-Founder James ‘Shack’ Harris and other decision makers.

But it wasn’t just his induction that led him to do so.

It was also seeing the yeoman service off the gridiron. The Black College Football Hall of Fame hosts an annual HBCU student career fair.

“I didn’t really know all the good work that they were doing,” Hubbard said. “So I’m going to be challenged, and I committed to be a part of helping them do whatever we’re going to do going forward.”

All times are Eastern

• Saturday, Aug. 29: vs. Albany State, 7 p.m., SWAC TV
• Sunday, Sept. 6: vs. South Carolina State, Orange Blossom Classic at Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium, 3 p.m., ESPNU
• Thursday, Sept. 10: at Miami, 8 p.m., ACC Network
• Saturday, Sept. 19: vs. Tennessee State, 7 p.m., HBCU GO
• Saturday, Sept. 26: vs. Alabama A&M (SWAC), 7 p.m., SWAC TV
• Saturday, Oct. 3: BYE
• Saturday, Oct. 10: at Alabama State (SWAC), 3 p.m., HBCU GO
• Saturday, Oct. 17: at Jackson State (SWAC), 3 p.m., ESPN Network
• Saturday, Oct. 24: vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (SWAC/Homecoming), 3 p.m., HBCU GO
• Saturday, Oct. 31: vs. Southern (SWAC), 3 p.m., HBCU GO
• Saturday, Nov. 7: at Alcorn State (SWAC), 3 p.m., SWAC TV
• Saturday, Nov. 14: vs. Mississippi Valley State (SWAC), 3 p.m., SWAC TV
• Saturday, Nov. 21: vs. Bethune-Cookman (SWAC/Florida Classic), 3:30 p.m., ESPN+

Gerald Thomas, III, is a multi-time national award-winning reporter for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat.

Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at GDThomas@Tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU football’s Rudy Hubbard reflects on BCFHOF induction ceremony