To Rick Worman, nothing compares to team accomplishments and the recognition the associations with teammates receive.
 
Schedule permitting, the former record-breaking Eastern Washington University quarterback and Canadian Football League player and coach will be among the 18th class of inductees into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame on Sept. 22, 2018.
 
Worman led Eastern to 16 victories in two seasons, and as a senior in 1985 helped Eastern advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (then I-AA). That came in just EWU's second season at that level, and helped result in EWU becoming a member of the Big Sky Conference in 1987. Eastern now has a rich football tradition, with a total of 12 playoff berths, nine Big Sky titles and a national championship in 2010.
 
The 1985 team was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005. Now, 33 years after that team's epic achievement – including a first-round playoff win over Idaho – Worman still has strong feelings about their influence in the development of the Eastern Football program.
 
"What our team accomplished and was honored for is much more gratifying than any individual honor," said Worman, who set 10 school records and went on to play six years in the CFL, and has coached ever since. "There is no better feeling than being that foundation of the success Eastern has enjoyed since we played. Myself and my teammates were there cheering our alma mater on in the 2010 national championship game, and if feels good to have played a part in that."
 
Worman graduated in 1981 from Saratoga (Calif.) High School where he was 25-1 as a two-year starter. He was at Fresno State in 1981 and 1982 before transferring to EWU in the 1983 season. In subsequent years, Erik Meyer, Matt Nichols and Vernon Adams Jr., followed in his footsteps as record-breaking Eagle quarterbacks from California. Current All-America quarterback Gage Gubrud is from Oregon and should get a chance to meet Worman for the first time in September.
 
Worman made his Eastern debut on Sept. 8, 1984, in EWU's 38-20 win over Central Washington at Albi Stadium in Spokane, completing 15-of-22 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown. Later in the year, he had 197 yards and two touchdowns in front of 10,213 fans at Albi Stadium when EWU beat Idaho 32-25.
 
The next season, Eastern was soundly beaten by the Vandals 42-21 in November, but gained revenge later in the month when Worman was 29-of-53 for 384 yards and three touchdowns in the playoffs. His 73-yard screen pass to Jamie Townsend set-up a game-winning 17-yard TD pass to Eric Riley with just 12 seconds to play.
 
Eastern's season ended the next week at Northern Iowa, but that team finished 9-3 after a 7-2-1 finish in 1984. Among the records Worman set were for single season passing yards (2,842) which stood for 16 years. He finished his career 430-of-765 (.562) for 5,588 yards, 47 touchdowns and 25 interceptions.
 
Worman went on to play six years in the Canadian Football League, and has coached professionally and collegiately ever since. He now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
 
The addition of Worman completes the list of inductees in this year's class. Previously, football player Jeff Ogden, men's basketball player Alvin Snow and volleyball player Kim Maxwell-Dempsey were announced as individual members of this year's class of inductees,. The 1998 and 1999 volleyball teams Maxwell-Dempsey played on will also be inducted, and former Eastern basketball player Richard Hannan will receive the Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award.
 
The induction breakfast and ceremony is expected to start at approximately 8 a.m. on Sept. 22 at Reese Court in Cheney, and the public is invited to attend at a cost of $20 per person. Guests must register via a link that will be available later in July at http://goeags.com/HOF. Inductees will also be honored at halftime of EWU's football game against Cal Poly later that day (kickoff is TBA).
 
Established in 1996, the Hall of Fame will consist of 87 individuals and 17 teams after the addition of this year's class. Including Hannan, there have also been 20 individuals and one organization honored as recipients of the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award. All of the inductees and induction classes may be viewed at: http://goeags.com/HOF.


 
Rick Worman (Athlete/Football)
A transfer from Fresno State, Worman quarterbacked Eastern to a 16-5-1 record in two seasons, including a 9-3 record and the quarterfinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) Playoffs in 1985. Eastern was 7-2-1 in 1984 in his first season as an Eagle. He set 10 school records, including the record for single season passing yards (2,842) which stood for 16 years. His 67 passing attempts in a 1985 game versus Nevada stood as a school record for 24 seasons. He finished his career 430-of-765 (.562) for 5,588 yards, 47 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. His career passing efficiency rating of 130.4 ranked second in school history at the time and is currently 10th (entering 2018 season). He engineered one of Eastern's most thrilling victories in school history in a 42-38 come-from-behind victory at Idaho in the first round of the 1985 FCS Playoffs. He completed 29-of-53 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns, and also scored twice on the ground. In the final minute he completed a 73-yard screen pass to Jamie Townsend, and on the next play he passed 17 yards to Eric Riley for the winning score with 12 seconds to play. At the time, his 354 yards were the fourth-most in school history, with his 388 in 1985 against Cal State Chico ranking second at the time. Worman went on to a play for three Canadian Football League teams (Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatchewan) from 1986-91. He played in 97 regular season games and passed for 8,577 yards and 55 touchdowns. He then served as an assistant coach in the CFL, helping Winnipeg improve from a 7-10 season in 2000 to a 14-4 record in 2001 and an appearance in the Grey Cup. He was the team's offensive coordinator in 2001. He then became head coach in January of 2002 of the expansion Fresno Frenzy in the arenafootball2 (af2) league for one season. After spending three years as a scout for Edmonton, he became quarterbacks coach for the Eskimos in May 2007 and eventually became the team's offensive coordinator. He joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as running backs coach in 2011, then became a scout for the Ottawa CFL franchise. In 2013 he was quarterbacks coach at Mississippi Valley State, and then was hired in 2014 as offensive coordinator for the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL. In 2016 he was hired as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Wilmington College before spending the 2017 season as an assistant at Dixie State. In 1999, Dick Zornes selected Worman to the "Z" Team consisting of 36 players that he felt were the best players and made the largest contributions toward the 158 games Eastern won in Zornes' 26-year association with Eagle Football. Worman was selected by the Eastern Athletic Department to the "100 for 100" All-Time Football Team, which was honored on Sept. 27, 2008, to commemorate Eastern's 100th year of football. The 1985 football team Worman played on was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.