NFL Hall of Famer visits alma mater JCU
Pictured above is London Fletcher, showing his NFL Hall of Fame Plaque to the JCU crowd at halftime of the football game against Mount Union.(Photo by JCU Sports Information).
Oct 3, 2019
The Iron Man returned home to receive perhaps one of the most important accolades.
On Saturday, Sept. 28, John Carroll University welcomed back London Fletcher, JCU class of 1997 – the school’s first College Football Hall of Fame honoree.
Fletcher arrived the day before the Blue Streaks took on their rivals, the Mount Union Purple Raiders, to walk through the halls and classrooms he once sat in.
A major highlight of the game was the halftime ceremony, when Fletcher hoisted his Hall of Fame plaque at the 50-yard line on the brand new field turf.
“Just being here at John Carroll — the community, school, everything — it means so much to me,” Fletcher said. “It’s a part of my story and legacy, and it definitely shaped me to be the person I am today and the player I was when I played.”
Not only was Fletcher honored at John Carroll on Saturday, he was also inducted into the Washington Redskins Ring of Honor on Monday, Sept. 23.
“That honor with the Redskins, that does not happen without John Carroll. What I was able to accomplish here, with my teammates and coaches, that paved the way,” he said.
While at John Carroll, Fletcher set the record for the most tackles in one game and the most tackles in a single season. These stats combined with his Linebacker of the Year Award helped boost Fletcher into his NFL career.
“I wanted to make every single tackle, and I felt that if I played well, the defense would play well,” Fletcher said. “I carried that same mentality into the NFL.”
When Fletcher came to John Carroll, he says he could have never imagined he would have found the success he did playing football.
“I’d be lying if I said that I came in thinking I would make it to the NFL,” he said with a smirk and hearty laugh. “I came here to get a great education; it’ll set me up for life after college.
“The type of education, the type of people that you are around —you’re around people of all different walks of life, different social and economic backgrounds, all those different things that, really, the world is about — combines to provide the well-rounded education that I received at John Carroll,” Fletcher said. “It factored, and factors, into my life.”
