Cobb puts Rice on the map again
RB, second all-time in SWC rushing, part of 13-man 2018 class
As a senior at Pasadena’s Dobie High School in 1988, Trevor Cobb had college football offers from universities across the country. But Cobb had his eye on a local school: Rice.
Cobb figured he would get a great education on South Main. Plus, he’d be close enough for his parents to catch all of his home games.
Cobb — then 5-9 and around 175 pounds — had dreams of carrying a school on his back. On Monday, he became the ninth Owl (and seventh Rice player) to be selected for the College Football Hall of Fame.
The induction of this year’s 13man class, which will take place Dec. 4 in New York, will immortalize not only Cobb’s name but his mission to hoist the Owls’ college football stature.
“Before I got here, Rice was like (0-11),” Cobb said. “I wanted to be one of the guys to help turn that around. That’s why I chose Rice.
“It means a lot,” he said of the Hall of Fame honor. “It means the little school is with the big schools. That’s kind of how I look at it.”
Cobb is the second-leading rusher in Southwest Conference history behind Texas A&M’s Darren Lewis. He cut and blasted his way through SWC defenses, trampling Rice rushing records on the way to being named a firstteam All-American and Heisman Trophy contender in 1991.
Walker Award recipient
That same year, Cobb became the first Owl to win the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back. He was a finalist for the award again as a senior and was named the 1992 SWC Offensive Player of the Year when he led Rice to its first winning season in almost 30 years. He was a three-time all-conference selection and finished with 4,948 rushing yards, eighth on the NCAA career list at the time.
Cobb arrived at Rice in 1989, a year after a winless season. Rice had won just 20 games (and lost 79) in the 1980s. In his and new coach Fred Goldsmith’s first year, the Owls went 2-8-1, but they improved to 5-6 the following season. In 1991, Cobb’s most decorated season, the team was 4-7.
“I knew when I first got here to Rice that Trevor would be a special player and a special teammate,” said Bert Emanuel, who quarterbacked the Owls before enjoying a career as an NFL wide receiver. “I knew then that was the type of player I wanted to be around and the type of player who was really the epitome of the Rice football program. It inspired me to be more than an athlete.”
Emanuel is originally from Kansas City, Mo., but he and Cobb attended football camps together. Emanuel eventually moved to Houston and attended Langham Creek. He opted for UCLA when the two graduated high school in 1989 but transferred to Rice as a redshirt freshman two years later.
“It’s really amazing to play with a guy that did the things that he did at a small school like this,” Emanuel said. “We weren’t fortunate to have the Lombardi or Outland Award linemen to go on to the NFL like the Notre Dame guys or the Michigan guys, but we had guys who were committed and guys who believed in Trevor’s vision. And Trevor just made things happen.”
Emanuel sat out the 1991 season because of transfer rules but recalls thinking, “Man, I hope (Cobb) comes back one more year, because I want to play with this guy.”
Winning season
Emanuel was handing off to Cobb the following year when the team went 6-5, its first winning record since 1963.
Cobb became the first Owl and fourth SWC player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. He has the top three single-season rushing totals in Rice history (highlighted
by his 1,692 yards in 1991). He also has the SWC career record for all-purpose yards (6,512) and 200-yard games in a season (six).
He played with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears and for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe in 1996.
Today, he and his wife run a salon that does hair, makeup and tattoos, and he also serves as the director of his nonprofit, Trevor Cobb’s Helping Hands in Houston, through which he mentors young athletes with disabilities.
Just days ago, before Cobb flipped through the day’s mail, he noticed a boxed package with the letters “HFF” on it. He curiously opened the box, puzzled to find a football inside.
He rotated the ball to see the words, “Trevor Cobb … Rice University … A Member of the 2018 College Football Hall of Fame Class.”
Cobb was shocked but slightly amused.
“Wow, that’s the way they do it,” he thought before joking, “They couldn’t give me a clue or something?”
Since then, he’s heard congratulations from everyone, even his dentist. But the honor feels surreal for Cobb, who will be inducted with nine other players and three coaches, including former Texas coach Mack Brown, former Miami safety Ed Reed, and 1997 Heisman trophy winner Charles Woodson of Michigan.
“I’m at a loss for words, really. It’s a proud moment for the university and for my family and friends,” Cobb said. “I had a great time here at Rice. I wanted to help bring that winning attitude.”