Former Liberal Bee Jay Steve Bartkowski was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame Tuesday. Steve Bartkowski, who played quarterback at California from 1970-72, said the call he received from NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell to let him know that he had been selected to the Hall of Fame caught him totally off guard.

“When Steve called last week to inform me, I thought he had the wrong number,” said Bartkowski, who led the nation in yards passing as a senior and was drafted first overall by the Atlanta Falcons. “It’s absolutely an honor.”

Bartkowski played for the BJ’s in 1973. That team went 53-8.