Chuck Howley, one of the greatest athletes to ever take the field in a West Virginia University uniform, was officially enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday afternoon.

Howley (87) was unable to attend the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony in person. His son, Scott, received his gold jacket Friday night.

The Mountaineer great was voted a member of the 2023 induction class by the Hall of Fame’s Seniors Committee. He was named a finalist last August, and learned the news that this was finally his year for enshrinement in February.

“I want to make sure we recognize Chuck Howley, one of the best linebackers to ever play in the NFL,” WVU football head coach Neal Brown said Saturday. “A big congrats.”

Watch (Twitter): Hard work turns Howley into a Hall of Famer

Watch (Twitter): Howley’s legacy, and his path to the Hall of Fame

Howley was a rare five-sport athlete at WVU, and went on to have a Hall of Fame-worthy career with the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. The Wheeling-area native made NFL history in Super Bowl V when he became the first (and still only) player on the losing team to win Super Bowl MVP honors. The following year, he and the Cowboys won the NFL championship.

Howley earned five first-team All-Pro honors from 1966-1970, and was a six-time Pro Bowler at the NFL level. He was inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor in 1973, just four years after he retired. At the time, he was only the fourth player to receive the honor.

At West Virginia, Howley lettered in five sports — football, track and field, wrestling, gymnastics, and swimming. He became the No. 7 overall pick in the 1958 NFL Draft, and remains one of the highest-drafted players in program history.

Howley is already a member of the WVU Sports Hall of Fame, the Mountaineer Legends Society, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, and the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.