Steve Walsh leads Ring of Honor honorees

Steve Walsh, who led the University of Miami to a national championship in 1987, is one of three former players named Wednesday to the Hurricanes' Ring of Honor.

Joining Walsh - who is now the head coach at Cardinal Newman - are safety Bennie Blades, a teammate of Walsh on the '87 team, and running back Eddie Dunn, who played from 1935-39 and also served as UM's coach in 1943-44.

The three players will be honored at Land Shark Stadium during halftime of UM's game against Clemson on Oct. 24.

"I'm overwhelmed," Walsh said. "We could fill several rings with all the outstanding players that were at Miami but aren't up there. To look back and have this as a complement to my career down there is just an unbelievable honor."

Walsh, 42, compiled a 23-1 record during his two seasons as a starter in 1987 and 1988. In 1988, Walsh was named a first-team All-America and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Walsh said being selected for the Ring of Honor with Blades is particularly special.

After leading the Hurricanes to a 31-4 victory against Florida in his first career start on Sept. 5, 1987, Walsh said Blades addressed the team in UM's locker room.

"Bennie stood up and said, 'Hey, we got ourselves a quarterback,' " said Walsh, who tied Vinny Testaverde's school career record for touchdown passes with 48 - a record since broken by Ken Dorsey. "It meant a lot to me at the time. I was a big question mark in '87. The thinking was, 'We're going to be good if Steve can come through at that position.' So that was very affirming to me."

With the addition of Walsh, Blades and Dunn the Ring of Honor will have 16 members. The others are Edgerrin James, Jim Kelly, Cortez Kennedy, Jim Otto, Gino Torretta, Ottis Anderson, Don Bosseler, Bernie Kosar, Burgess Owens, Jim Dooley, George Mira, Ted Hendricks and Testaverde.



(palmbeachpost.com)