One of the greatest players to ever wear the gold helmet was named to the College Football Hall of Fame on Thursday in New York City.

Tim Brown became the 7th Heisman Trophy winner from Notre Dame in 1987. He later went on to a stellar career in the NFL.

“This is a great honor,” Brown said Thursday in the Big Apple. “It was something I was hoping would come one day and I’m glad today is the day.”

Brown was the first wide receiver to ever win the Heisman and is one of two Heisman winners named to this year's class, joining Miami QB Gino Torretta.

He becomes the 43rd former Notre Dame player named into the College Football Hall of Fame.

"I went there first to get a good education," Brown says looking back at his days under the Golden Dome. "Obviously I loved football and I wanted to play hard and represent myself well."

The Irish have six former coaches in the Hall and the 49 total enshrines are the most of any NCAA institution, the most recent being Lou Holtz in 2008. For Brown, Holtz's arrival midway through his tenure in South Bend changed things for him.

"My focus was still on academics but I knew athletically, I could do something special because of him," Brown says. "My intensity picked up and every time I took the field for ND, was special."

"Touchdown Timmy" would go on to set 19 school records at Notre Dame and become a 2-time All-American in addition to winning the Heisman.

The 6th overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft by the Raiders, Brown was named to the Pro Bowl nine times.

But he says there is just something very special about the college game, "You're playing for the blue and gold jersey you have on. You're not playing for money or your family and all the pressures you have once you get to the NFL."

"You're just going out there, representing the university that you love and that is a beautiful thing--- a pure part of the game that unfortunately when you get to the next level, is not there."

Brown's class will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in December in NYC and enshrined in South Bend in July, 2010.

Joining Brown and Torretta are: Pervis Atkins (RB-New Mexico St), Chuck Cecil (DB-Arizona), Ed Dyas (FB-Auburn), Major Harris (QB-West Virginia), Gordon Hudson (TE-BYU), William Lewis (C-Harvard), Woodrow Lowe (LB-Alabama), Ken Margerum (WR-Stanford), Steve McMichael (DT-Texas), Chris Spielman (LB-Ohio St), Larry Station (LB, Iowa), Pat Swilling (DE-Georgia Tech), Curt Warner (RB, Penn State), Grant Wistrom (DE-Nebraska) AND coaches Dick MacPherson (UMass, Syracuse) and John Robinson (USC, UNLV).