Cerritos College has two former players that have been inducted
into the National Football League Hall of Fame – Joe Gibbs,
who led the Washington Redskins to three Super Bowl Championships,
and Ron Yary, who was a perennial offensive lineman for the
Minnesota Vikings.
As an All-Conference defensive end for the Falcons in 1959-60,
Gibbs went on to play at San Diego State University and then began
his coaching career in 1964 with the Aztecs. He was named the head
coach for the Washington Redskins 1981 and led them to their first
of three Super Bowls in 1982, followed that with another in 1983
and then in 1987. He owns a 171-101 head coaching record in the NFL
and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1996. He has since
started Joe Gibbs Racing in 1992, which has led to numerous
championships. Gibbs is also the President/Special Advisor for the
Redskins, a position he has held since 2007.
Ron Yary played just one year of football with the Falcons (1964),
but was an all-conference offensive tackle. He moved on to USC,
where he won the Outland Trophy and Knute Rockne Award as a senior
and was the first offiensive lineman to ever be drafted #1 overall
(Minnesota in 1968). During his professional career, Yary was a
seven-time Pro Bowl selection, six-time 1st Team All-Pro and won
the NFC Offensive Lineman of the Year three times. He played in
four Super Bowls and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in
2001. In 2011, Yary became one of the inaugural inductees into the
Cerritos College Hall of Fame.