Cornell University Athletics

Cornell will proudly welcome three members of the Cornell football family -- Craig Lambert '72,  Eric Krawczyk '98 and Joe Rooney '24 -- into its Athletic Hall of Fame during the 32nd annual induction ceremonies on Friday night. The 12 men and women from various sports increase the total of recipients to 510. Of these, 139 are Big Red football players or coaches.  

On the day after the big induction blast at the Statler, the honorees will be part of the halftime show during the Harvard game at Schoellkopf Field.

Cornell could score from anywhere on the field if wide receiver Krawczyk was there for quarterbacks Steve Joyce and Scott Carroll to seek out. He's Cornell's third-leading pass catcher, all-time, with 2,285 yards gained on 176 catches for an average of 13 apiece and 17 touchdowns under Coach Jim Hofher between 1995 and 1997. 

He leads the Cornell list for passes caught in one season (1,042 in '97). That was the first 1,000 yard year for a Cornellian. Those were among 16 Cornell records he set or tied after checking in from North Royalton, Ohio.

"Zeke" made things happen when he was in action, according to the '96 Cornell press guide.  A 6-foot-1, 203-pounder, he was not easy to bring down -- on the turf or the mat (he was sought out by college recruiters as a wrestler as well as a footballer, but the field he chose was Schoellkopf. Throughout his Cornell years, his team finished in the first division of the Ivy League. Coach Pete Noyes describes him thus: "Great, clutch hands with speed and size. A great one and very deserving to join our Hall of Fame." 

A unanimous All-Ivy first place pick, Cornell's most valuable player (and one of its five team captains) he led the land in receptions per game (8.9) in his senior year. That followed a junior year in which he set records and won the Charles Colucci Award for the non-senior who had done the most for the team.  

And he gained lots of those yards for a team whose offense stressed the ground pounding of 227-pound back Chad Levitt (second only to Ed Marinaro in career yards gained rushing -- 4,657 for Cornell.

Lambert came to the Hotel School from Circleville, Ohio, and made himself known immediately as a starting tackle on Coach Ted Thoren's freshman team. He was to become a heavyweight on Jack Musick's big team, at 225 pounds, huge for those days. Lambert became a starter on the offensive front of the big team in his junior year.

By his senior year, he had become first-team All-Ivy, second team All-East and winner of the Cornell Club of Ithaca Award (it's the Mansour Jewelers Award now) as the player who had shown the most improvement during his Cornell career. He was responsible, along with colleagues of the front line, for creating the daylight that Marinaro read so well in his pursuit of the Heisman Trophy. The off-tackle "blast that makes the offense last" was key to earning Cornell a share of the Ivy title that year (1971). Big Ed shattered national records for yards gained rushing in a game, in a season (1,881 in 356 carries, for a 5.3-yard average and 24 touchdowns) and a career (4,715 in 915 attempts,  a 5.21 yard average, and 50 TDs).

Once, when asked how he would do in the Big Ten, Ed said he'd do fine if he had the Cornell line blocking for him.

Lambert's friends will be coming from afar, like Musick's coach of interior offensive linemen,  Bob Litchard, from Colorado.

Rooney was a teammate of National Football Hall of Famers George Pfann, Eddie Kaw and Frank Sundstrom, of Coach Gloomy Gil Dobie's national champion Big Redders, in 1922 and '23, two of the four years he played football at Cornell. (In the spring, he was a three-time lacrosse All-American.) Son Tom '55 played end with the 1952, '53 and '54 Redmen. The last two were Ivy champions. Grandson Tom Jr. lettered with Coach Bob Blackman's 1981 team.  Joe Rooney died in 1990.