CHADRON, Neb. -- Two of Chadron State College's all-time greats, Casey Beran and Danny Woodhead, will be inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, Sept. 15 in Lincoln.  They will share the spotlight with four former University of Nebraska standouts.

The selection of Beran and Woodhead was not a surprise.  Both had tremendous high school and college careers, and Woodhead also played nine years for four National Football League teams before retiring last spring.

The Hall of Fame stressed several years ago that Woodhead would be inducted as soon as his pro career had ended. Beran was one of two "small college" players on this year's Hall of Fame ballot.

They will be the fifth and sixth Chadron State representatives to enter the Hall of Fame.

Although Beran and Woodhead played different positions, they received some of the same honors during their collegiate careers. Besides being All-Americans on the gridiron, both also were Academic All-Americans and were among the seven Eagles who have been selected by the Omaha World-Herald as Nebraska State College Male Athletes of the Year.

A native of Sargent, Beran earned all-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and All-Nebraska NCAA II first-team honors at defensive end in 1996, 1998 and 1999. He missed the 1997 season because of a knee injury.

He also was selected the outstanding defensive player for both of the all-star teams as a senior and was an All-West Region second-team selection as a junior and a first-team choice as a senior.

In addition, he was a Football Gazette and USA Football first-team All-American and a Daktronics NCAA II and Associated Press Little All-American second-team choice that season.  

Having been born and raised on a Custer County farm and ranch, Beran received another special honor. He was a three-time first-team Farm All-American selected by Successful Farming magazine and Dodge Trucks and was chosen the defensive captain of that team his senior year. The Farm All-American team was open to players from all levels of college football.  About 20 were placed on the team annually.

Beran owns the Chadron State record for most career sacks with 35 for 275 yards in losses. He also had 32.5 additional tackles for 107 yards in losses and caused seven fumbles and had 38 quarterback hurries.

He also bolstered the Eagles' offense by scoring 11 touchdowns while playing fullback in the power I formation devised by coach Brad Smith when they approached the goal line.

The Eagles went 7-1 in the RMAC each of the three years Beran was an all-conference choice.  They won the championship outright in 1996 and tied for the title in 1998 and '99.  He was inducted into the RMAC Hall of Fame in 2013.

Beran became the first Chadron State football player to earn both All-American and Academic All-American honors.  He graduated from Chadron State in 1999 with a 3.8 grade point average while majoring in human biology and attended the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.  He is now an orthopedic surgeon in Omaha.  He and his wife Molly have four children. 

A story released statewide on the Hall of Fame selections last week said Woodhead "is as celebrated as any Nebraska athlete."

As a senior at North Platte High School, Woodhead rushed for 2,037 yards and scored 31 touchdowns, was the Nebraska Gatorade Football Player of the Year, offensive captain of both the Omaha World-Herald's and Lincoln Journal Star's all-class, all-state football teams and was Huskerland Prep's Player of the Year.

After he averaged the state-high 26 points for the North Platte basketball team that winter, he also was named the Omaha and Lincoln newspapers' 2003-04 Male Athlete of the Year.

Woodhead didn't start the first football game at Chadron State his freshman year, but he clinched the starting job in the third game when he rushed for a school-record 306 yards and scored five touchdowns. That was just the beginning of his fantastic career.

When he graduated he owned 21 NCAA Division II records, including those for most consecutive games rushing 100 or more yards (16), games rushing 200 or more yards (19), most consecutive games scoring a touchdown (38)  and most yards rushing in a season (2,756 in 2006). 

​​​​​​​Woodhead became college football's all-time leading rusher with 7,962 yards and scored 109 touchdowns, tying him for the most in college football annals.  He received two Harlon Hill Trophies, which are awarded to NCAA Division II's outstanding player.

He rushed for 17 touchdowns that were at least 60 yards long and had 17 more that were 25 yards or longer. His 9,480 all-purpose yards is 215.5 yards per game and 7.34 yards each time he touched the ball during his career.

The Eagles were 12-1 overall, were undefeated in the RMAC and ranked fifth in NCAA II by the American Football Coaches Association at the end of both his junior and senior seasons. Woodhead was a consensus All-American both of those years.

In addition, Woodhead was NCAA Division II's National Scholar-Athlete his senior season in 2007 and graduated with a 3.72 GPA after majoring in both health and physical education and math.  Two years later, he was voted the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's All-Time Outstanding Offensive Player when its All-Century Team was selected.

Although he was not drafted in following his senior season at Chadron State, he was signed by the New York Jets as a free agent.  He suffered a serious knee injury during training camp that summer, but the Jets left him on injured reserve and he made the roster the following season before he was eventually released. 

The New England Patriots quickly nabbed him and he played for them three years, often entering the game on third down and either running through a small crack in the line or catching a short pass to move the chains. He rushed for 547 yards and five touchdowns in 2010 and caught a touchdown pass from Tom Brady in Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.

The next four years he was an all-purpose back for the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers.  He also was an invaluable piece of quarterback Philip Rivers' arsenal.  He caught 76 passes for 605 yards and six touchdowns his first year there in 2013.

After breaking a leg, Woodhead missed all but three games in 2014, but he returned in 2015 for another excellent season, grabbing 80 passes for 755 yards and 16 TDs and also rushing for 336 yards and three more scores. 

Another ACL injury in the second game ended his 2016 season.  The following winter, he signed a three-year contract with Baltimore, but a hamstring problem put him on injured reserve through the first eight games last fall.  He saw enough action late in the year to catch 33 passes for 200 yards. After the Ravens trimmed their roster in March, he announced his retirement. 

​​​​​​​Woodhead and his wife Stacia have four children and are living in the Omaha area.