LAS VEGAS – One of the giants of Central Michigan Athletics now rightfully stands among the legends of college football.
 
And, even in his 90s, Roy Kramer still commands a room with a smooth lilt, a quick wit, and a dignified, graceful presence.
 
"The best, the greatest, experience a young man can have in a lifetime is demonstrated by the people you heard here today and don't ever forget that," Kramer said on Tuesday during a press conference ahead of his official induction into the College Football Hall of Fame during the National Football Foundation awards dinner at the ARIA Resort & Casino.
 
Kramer served as an assistant coach to Bill Kelly from 1965-66 and then took over the Central Michigan football program in 1967. He compiled an 83-32-2 record (a 71.8 win percentage) from 1967-77, leading the Chippewas to the 1974 Division II national championship and a 12-1 record.
 
He played an integral role in CMU's move to Division I in 1975 and then went on to become the athletic director at Vanderbilt before serving as commissioner of the Southeastern Conference from 1990-2002. He was the driving force behind the creation of the Bowl Championship Series which has evolved into the College Football Playoff.
 
Kramer is the second Central Michigan representative in the Hall of Fame, which is located in Georgia. Herb Deromedi, Kramer's defensive coordinator on the '74 championship team, was inducted in 2007.
 
"It's a very distinct honor because of the history and the tradition of what it's about," Kramer said in a post-press conference interview. "It's an organization that really sets aside and honors the game itself and to be a part of that is very meaningful and is a distinct honor."

Kramer was inducted into the Central Michigan University Marcy Weston Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987. With his enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame, Kramer is a member of six halls of fame and has received numerous awards related to his career, including the Duffy Daugherty Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to amateur football, and the National Football Foundation's Distinguished American Award.
 
"It's an incredible honor for Roy and, by association, Central Michigan University and Chippewa Athletics," Zyzelewski Family Director of Athletics Amy Folan said. "We could not be prouder of Roy and we are extremely happy for him. He has, and continues to be, an extraordinary representative of our university and its proud athletic history."
 
A native of Maryville, Tenn., Kramer came to Michigan after graduating from Maryville College and began his coaching career as an assistant at Battle Creek Central High School in 1955. He coached at several high schools before arriving at CMU a decade later. He was named in 1964 as the state Class A Coach of the Year after leading East Lansing to an 8-0 finish and a No. 1 ranking in the final Associated Press state poll.
 
And while Kramer recognizes how far the game of football, particularly at the college level, has come as it has evolved, he said the grassroots level is as critical as ever.

"It's great to be at a huge stadium on a Saturday afternoon with 80,000 or 100,000 people," he said, "but we also have to realize that on that same Saturday afternoon, that same great game is being played on hundreds of campuses across the country, not in front of 80,000 people but in front of two or three thousand people and the young men playing that game have the same experience as the young men playing it at the very high level that we talk about so much."
 
He said there is no greater teaching tool, and nothing that better galvanizes people of varied backgrounds, than the game of football.
 
"A Polish left guard and a farmer from Iowa open a hole for an African-American running back to score a touchdown," he said. "That's what life should be, that's what life should be in this country, and football sets that aside better than any other experience that I know of. And somehow, we need to be able to preserve that, not only at the big-time level, but at the high school and college level across the board.
 
"To be able to maintain the values, the traditions, the learning experience. There's no greater classroom … on any campus anywhere, in high school or college, than what we teach in football."