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USC Football: All-American Trojans QB Named to California Sports Hall of Fame

This former Trojan is headed to the California Sports Hall of Fame.

Eva Geitheim

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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Former USC football quarterback Rodney Peete is Hall of Fame bound. Peete has been announced as part of the California Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024.

Peete was an outstanding athlete in high school, playing football, basketball, and baseball in high school in Arizona. He accepted a scholarship to play quarterback at USC, and first made his way onto the field in the middle of his freshman season in 1985.

Peete then threw for over 2,000 yards in his next three seasons at USC. He finished his career completing 58.3 percent of his passes for 8,225 yards, 54 touchdowns, and 42 touchdowns with a 130.9 passer rating.

His top season at USC came in 1988, when he completed 62.1% of his passes for 2,812 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He finished second to Barry Sanders in Heisman Trophy voting, but notably was ahead of then-UCLA and future Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman. He was the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-American. He was also the winner of the prestigious Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the top upperclassmen quarterback in the nation.

Peete also earned All-Pac-10 honors at USC for baseball. He would get drafted by MLB teams three times in college, but instead opted to play in the NFL. A sixth-round pick, Peete played for six different NFL teams.

He is one of five members of the California Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024, which also includes Rams Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, former Lakers champion A.C. Green, sports agent Scott Boras, and sports photographer Andrew B. Bernstein.

Peete has also been inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame and the USC Athletics Hall of Fame.

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Eva Geitheim

EVA GEITHEIM

Eva graduated from UCLA in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in Communication. She has been covering college and professional sports since 2022.

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