Louisiana Tech 1982 Kodak All-American and AP Division I-AA All-American quarterback Matt Dunigan is among eight inductees chosen for the 2019 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class, and this is why he got there.

Long before he earned his way into this most recent honor — or into the Tech Athletics Hall of Fame or the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame — he was a Tech freshman out of Dallas in 1979. At Tech, there are two practice fields: in general, the 1’s and 2’s on offense practice on the top or upper field, and everyone else, including the scout team, is on the bottom field. Of course the scout team is facing the No. 1 defense, which is pretty much at home on the bottom field.

All I was was a sophomore and the team manager, which is even lower that the scout team quarterback, which is what Matty was. Even in two-a-days in August, he was getting beaten up because his only speed was full-throttle. By the third or fourth week of the season, we were putting different pads on him, cutting foam and taping it here and there, to try either to protect him or to help protect where he’d already been hurt.

Pretty much an exercise in futility.

Maybe it was October of his freshman year that I said to him one day either, during a break or between plays on that bottom field, that maybe he should back off a notch, save a little something.

“I don’t know if we can keep you together.” Something like that. “You can give them (the defense) a good look without getting killed.”

And Matty said, “No way.”

“But you’re…”

And he nodded toward Tech Drive and the upper field. “I want to get on that top field.”

And he did. It didn’t take long.

He might have used more tape than anyone who’s ever played at Tech. But he was worth it.

Matt joins 5-time NFL Most Valuable Player Peyton Manning, former LSU football coach Les Miles, 5-time USA Olympic volleyball standout Danielle Scott-Arruda, Southern University baseball coach Roger Cador, Alexandria-Peabody Magnet High School coach Charles Smith, LSU football All-American Max Fugler, and Rodeo Hall of Famer T. Barrett “Teaberry” Porter in the Class of 2019.

They’ll be enshrined Saturday, June 8, in Natchitoches to culminate the 60^th Anniversary Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration June 6-8.

Dunigan, who came with his mom and dad to watch Tech beat SMU in the Frisco Bowl back in December, played 14 seasons in the Canadian Football League (1983-1996). He broke nine Tech school records, including Terry Bradshaw’s mark for passing yards with 7,042 (which now ranks fourth in school history).

During his CFL career with six teams (Edmonton, British Columbia, Toronto, Winnipeg,  Birmingham and Hamilton), he threw for 43,857 yards and 306 touchdowns and rushed for 5,031 yards and 77 TDs; that’s 48,888 total yards and 383 TDs. He ranks second in CFL history in TD passes, third in passing yards (43,857), third in attempts (5,476) and third in completions (3,057).  He ranks fourth all-time in rushing TDs (77) and is fifth in rushing yards by a quarterback (5,031).

Seems neat that two of the best ambassadors of the game — one of the best QBs ever in the CFL (Dunigan) and one of the best ever in the NFL (Manning) — will be enshrined on the same night.

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