HOF QB Tim Couch Grateful for the Way Football Changed his Life

Tim Couch was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame Tuesday night in Las Vegas. (National Football Foundation Photo)

Former Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch admitted that being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame Tuesday night in Las Vegas “means everything to me” and truly was a dream come true.

“I am from Kentucky. Born and raised in that state. Stayed home to play there. To be able to do what I did in my college career and do at my home state school means so much to me,” Couch, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft, said “To represent the University of Kentucky was an honor for me. We have several other great players inducted into the Hall of Fame and I am proud to be next one in line.”

The former Leslie County High School standout completed 795 passes for 8,435 yards and 74 touchdowns in his UK career. He finished his career with seven NCAA, 14 SEC and 26 school records.

In his final season at UK in 1998, Couch completed an NCAA-record 72.3 percent of his passes for 4,275 yards and 36 touchdowns. He was named first-team All-America by the Football Writers Association of America and the Walter Camp Football Foundation, making him eligible for the eventual College Football Hall of Fame.  Couch was also a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, finishing fourth in the voting.

He played five seasons for the Cleveland Browns and led the team to the playoffs in 2002.

Couch tried to explain what football had done for a youngster from Hyden in eastern Kentucky.

“Football has completely changed my life. I am from a small town in Kentucky of 350 people. Not a lot of opportunities and the game brought me to a place I would never have been able to get to otherwise,” Couch said.

“It has opened a lot of doors for me. It got me into the business world that I am now with connections I made. It has been life changing and just an awesome experience all the way from high school to college to the NFL and to go into the NFL as the No 1 pick in the draft. To experience all those things is just a phenomenal thing. It is like a dream come true and wraps into a nice bow with this Hall of Fame induction.”

Couch praised Hal Mumme and offensive coordinator Mike Leach for saving his career after he played his first year at UK in 1996 as a backup quarterback for coach Bill Curry.

“My freshman year I was actually running the option. I would not be sitting here today if I stayed in that offense. Fortunately for me my sophomore year Hal Mumme and Mike Leach came in and put in the Air Raid offense which was a system I was used to and similar to what I had done in high school so I immediately felt very comfortable,” Couch said.

“Certainly there were doubts (about the offense). A lot of people said at that time you couldn’t run that type of offense in the SEC against the type of defenses we were playing. Fortunately we were able to go out and prove them wrong.”