Joe Montana leads Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame class

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Joe Montana and Kris Haines, the quarterback-receiver combo that led Notre Dame to one of the greatest comebacks in college football history, were among six inductees into the 2010 AT&T Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Also honored at the eighth annual ceremonies were Texas wingback Phil Harris, Alabama middle guard Warren Lyles, Texas A&M and Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill and the late Wilbur Evans, the Cotton Bowl's first executive director. Montana, who went on to a Hall of Fame career spanning 16 seasons in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, helped the Fighting Irish to a 38-10 upset of top-ranked Texas in the 1978 Cotton Bowl as Notre Dame won the national title. Back in Dallas a year later, Notre Dame trailed Houston by 22 points with 8 minutes left before pulling off a fantastic finish. Montana passed to Haines for a two-point conversion to narrow the deficit to six points with 4:15 remaining. Montana later threw again to Haines, who made a diving catch in the corner of the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown as time expired, tying the score at 34. The ensuing extra-point kick by Joe Unis completed the rally in what has become known as the Chicken Soup Game. The game was played in bitter cold after an overnight ice storm, and by halftime, Montana's body temperature had fallen below normal. Notre Dame trainers gave Montana hot chicken bouillon, and it proved the perfect tonic. "When you played in a cold-weather game, you could have either chicken broth or beef broth," Montana said. "I took chicken. Otherwise, it would have been called the Beef Bowl." Haines remembered working with Montana on the practice field when he first arrived at Notre Dame, running a corner route and getting hit in the head three times by Montana's passes. Eventually, they developed the chemistry that helped win the '79 Cotton Bowl. "Thank you for the throws," Haines said. Montana said this was his first induction into a college hall of fame. "I didn't have exactly a stellar college career," Montana said. "I didn't set any records on fire. So if this has to be the first one, what better than the Cotton Bowl? I wish I would have played in a couple more." These days, Montana's following the career of his son, Nate, a sophomore walk-on quarterback at Notre Dame. "He's had a rough road from the beginning (in high school), but right now he's in the No. 2 spot there, so he's in good position," Montana said. In 1964, Harris caught three passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns to lead Texas to a 28-6 victory over Navy. Lyles had 16 tackles in the 1981 and '82 Cotton Bowls. Alabama beat Baylor 30-2 in the '81 contest, and Texas knocked off the Crimson Tide 14-12 a year later. Sherrill, who recruited Montana when he was at Pittsburgh, coached Texas A&M in three straight Cotton Bowls from 1986-88. He also coached Mississippi State in the 1999 game. Evans worked for the Cotton Bowl in the '60s and '70s, helping persuade Notre Dame to end a 45-year ban on postseason games to accept an invitation to participate in the 1970 game. For the first time, the induction was at Cowboys Stadium. Previous ceremonies were at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, site of the game for 73 years until it was moved to the Dallas Cowboys' new home in January.