Terry Miller is inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

STILLWATER, Okla. – Former Oklahoma State running back Terry Miller was one of 18 players inducted into the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday night when he was honored at an awards ceremony at the 64th annual National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame (NFF) Awards Dinner in Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

A two-time All-American, Miller finished second in the 1977 Heisman Trophy voting and was fourth in 1976. Only 23 running backs in college football history have finished in the top four for the Heisman twice, and with Miller’s induction, all 23 are now in the College Football Hall of Fame.

In his college career, Miller played in 43 games, totaling 871 carries for 4,754 rushing yards, 49 rushing touchdowns, 5.5 yards per carry and 110.6 rushing yards per game. He remains the only player in OSU history to finish his career with three 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and after his final season, he tied for fourth in NCAA history.

Miller led the Big Eight in scoring as a junior and senior, won Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year honors both seasons and is one of three Big Eight players to hit over 4,000 career yards. Two others (Nebraska’s Mike Rozier and Oklahoma State’s Thurman Thomas) are members of the College Football Hall of Fame.

In the OSU record books, Miller ranks No. 2 in both career rushing yards (behind Thomas) and career rushing yards (behind 1988 Heisman winner Barry Sanders). His junior and senior rushing yards rank 3rd and 6th in OSU history, and his jersey number, 43, is one of four numbers no longer used at Oklahoma State. He also still holds the Cowboy records for most career 100-yard games with 26 and most consecutive 100-yard games with 19.

From a team perspective, Miller helped coach Jim Stanley’s teams to the 1974 Fiesta Bowl, 1976 Big Eight and 1976 Tangerine Bowl championships, winning 27 games during his playing career.

As a professional, Miller was selected in the first round by the Buffalo Bills with the fifth overall pick in the 1978 NFL Draft. He replaced OJ Simpson as the Bills’ starting running back and rushed for 1,060 yards in his rookie season. He played for the Bills from 1978 to 1980 and ended his career with a one-year stint in Seattle in 1981.

Miller graduated from Oklahoma State in 1978 with a degree in business administration and continued his football career as a self-employed sales and marketing professional before retiring. He is married to Dr. Nancy Gay Washington Miller and has three children.

Now a resident of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Miller is active in the community, volunteering and serving with numerous organizations and nonprofits, including FCA, First Christian Church, Oklahoma WONDERtorium Children’s Museum, Mission of Hope and Payne County Youth Services.

Oklahoma State now has seven representatives in the College Football Hall of Fame: Coach Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf (inducted 1966), Bob Fenimore (inducted 1972), Barry Sanders (inducted 2003), Thurman Thomas (inducted 2008), Coach Jimmy Johnson (inducted in 2012), Leslie O’Neill (inducted in the Class of 2020) and Miller.

The 18 first-team All-American players and three coaches for the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame class were selected from a national vote of 78 players and seven coaches from the FBS, 99 players and 33 coaches from the NFF Divisional and Veteran Committee nominees.

Of the 5.4 million people who have played college football since Princeton’s first game against Rutgers on November 6, 1869, less than two-hundredths of one percent (0.02%) have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.