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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 18 • 26 part of that.' "When Morgan Burke called me and said I was going to be in- ducted — I think he might have for- gotten I was on the West Coast, so it was like 5:30 a.m. my time — I was pretty honored." Certainly it's well-deserved. Stubblefield left Purdue as the NCAA's all-time receptions leader with 325 catches. He also had 3,629 receiving yards and 21 touchdown catches. He never was the biggest or fastest receiver, but he was a heady, smart player who could read de- fenses. And he had pretty good hands. "I was relatively quick and I'd like to think that when we played the Michigans and Ohio States that no matter who lined up against me, I, for the most part, got open," he said. "As for size and speed, that wasn't me. I had to think the game, had to know what they were going to do for me to be successful. "Something that probably gets taken for granted (is) catching the ball. I wasn't the fastest guy and everybody knows that, but I could catch the ball. That helped me, ob - viously." Defensive back John Charles, a three-year letterwinner in the mid- 1960s, will join Stubblefield in the nine-member class. Charles was named an All-American by The Sporting News as a senior in 1966. He was the MVP of the Rose Bowl game in its 14-13 win over USC in 1967. FILLING UP Purdue nearly has its schedules full through 2018. The Boilermakers will play Ohio in 2017 and Eastern Michigan in 2018, according to contracts ob- tained by Gold and Black. Purdue is paying both schools $550,000 for the non-conference games. There are ongoing talks with Louisville for 2017, likely in Lucas Oil Sta- dium, but no contract has been finalized. With Louisville pre- sumably in 2017, along with Mis- souri and Ohio, that schedule is done. In 2018, Purdue still will need to fill one more non-conference spot. Missouri and EMU are two of the three non-league games. STAYING PUT After leading Illinois State to the FCS national championship game, Brock Spack had been hounded by folks wondering if he'd bolt from Bloomington, Ill. Spack answered that question with a resounding "no" by signing a contract extension that included a raise last week. ISU athletic director Larry Lyons said the deal extends the contract through the 2021 sea- son and boosts Spack's salary to $300,000 from $268,000 in 2014, according to the Bloomington Pan- tagraph. "I don't like being gray," Spack told the paper. "I wasn't going anywhere, but I ap- preciate the support from the university. I guess you never say never, but I'm a homebody. I don't like moving. I'm in a great place and work with great people for great people. "I don't want to chase that almighty buck. I'm compensated fairly. My main concern is security for my family and my staff and their families." Spack, the former Boilermaker linebacker and defensive coordina - tor, is 46-26 in six years at Illinois State. The Redbirds were 13-2 in 2014, win- ning the program's first Missouri Valley Football Conference champion- ship since 1999 and ad- vancing to its first title game. North Dakota State won the champion- ship with a touchdown with 37 sec- onds remaining. "It was just heartbreaking to see that happen," Spack told the pa- per. "I felt bad for our fans and our players. Our players and coaches have worked so hard. You want to see it through. "I don't think anybody thought (a title) could happen. I did. I think it's possible now and the fan base is excited for football, and it should be. I believe more today than I did when I was hired that it's a sleeping giant. You just had to make a com- mitment to football." Spack was MVFC Coach-of-the- Year in 2014 and is a two-time final- ist for the Eddie Robinson Award, given yearly to the top head coach in the FCS. BREES SHINES AT PRO BOWL Drew Brees threw a couple touchdown passes in Sunday night's Pro Bowl, but it wasn't enough to help his Team Carter win the NFL's all-star game. In his ninth Pro Bowl, the for- mer Boilermaker was 13-of-21 passing for 163 yards with the two touchdowns and an interception. For the second consecutive season, former NFL stars Michael Irvin and Cris Carter picked teams, rather than the traditional AFC vs. NFC Pro Bowl. Carter picked Brees with the 17th overall pick, the third quarterback overall selected be- hind the Cowboys' Tony Romo and the Colts' Andrew Luck. j Blue and Gold Illustrated Taylor Stubblefield left Purdue as the NCAA's all-time receptions leader. He recently became one of nine former Boilermakers selected to the athletics Hall of Fame.