Before anyone had ever heard of Deion Sanders or Bo Jackson, there was George Amundson.

Amundson, although not quite leaving a Jim Thorpe-like legacy, was a two-sport star at Iowa State from 1969-72, and holds at least one record in both track and field and football. The seven-time letterwinner will be inducted into the ISU Sports Hall of Fame in September.

As one of the greatest athletes to ever come out of South Dakota, Amundson once held the world record in high school when he threw the discus 211 ft. 4 in. However, as his college years ran on, football seemed to be the sport he excelled at more.

“I enjoyed both sports,” Amundson said. “(Football coach) Johnny Majors said I could do both because I wasn’t eligible for varsity football at the time. Both sports suffered because of fatigue at times, but I wouldn’t have done it differently.”

In 1970, his sophomore year, Amundson was just stepping into the limelight as the quarterback/running back for the Cyclones. Besides being named Big 8 Conference Player of the Week once that season, the comeback against Missouri in Columbia is one of his finest moments at ISU.

“We hadn’t beaten them there since 1938,” Amundson said. “With the wind blowing a lot and the game tight, Majors told me to come off the bench and lead the team. With a couple of big TDs, we came back and beat them 31-19.”

Another of his greatest moments was when the Cyclones beat Oklahoma State in Ames 54-0 in 1971 to gain the Sun Bowl bid with the bowl representatives in the stands his junior year.

“Majors was carried off the field; it was just fantastic,” Amundson said. “He was the best. He let me call the plays on the field and gave me ‘free reign to run the team.’ I couldn’t have asked for any more.”

In the Sun Bowl, Iowa State lost to Louisiana State, 33-15, and Amundson rushed for 56 yards on 15 carries.

In 1972, his senior season, Amundson was named the Big 8 Conference Player of the Year, besting that year’s Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska.

While setting a new conference mark in total offense with 2,387 yards, he was named as a first-team All-America by the Gold Sheet of Los Angeles, and was an honorable mention by the AP and UPI.

When he ended his career in 1972, Amundson held 22 Cyclone football records. Amongst these were: most TDs in a career (52); most TDs in a season (21); most interceptions in a season (22). He also is in the top 5 in many other categories of passing and rushing.

One of the great feats that he accomplished is that he is the first and only Cyclone to have 2,000 yards rushing and receiving in a career.

Also in 1972, ISU made another bowl appearance, this time in the Liberty Bowl. Though the Cyclones lost a heartbreaker to Georgia Tech, 31-30, Amundson was the star as he racked up 231 yards in total offense (153 passing, 78 rushing), establishing a school mark for a bowl game, and had a TD at each position.

After the season, he played in the Hula Bowl, East-West Shrine Game, and the All-Star Game before being selected by the Houston Oilers in the first round of the 1973 NFL draft.

As an Oiler, he sat through a miserable 1-13 season his first year, but started his second year as a running back. From Houston, he moved on to the Philadelphia Eagles and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Of course, Amundson participated in track at Iowa State as well.

He threw both the shot put and the discuss when it came to outdoor events and did some low hurdles and high jump indoors.

In both his freshman and senior seasons, Amundson made Nationals in the discus (it seems that world record in high school was no fluke). Amundson, in addition to being a four-time letterwinner in track, held the school record in the discus, a feat he accomplished in the snow in Ames.

As far as the differences in college football today from when he played, there aren’t many, and most are subtle.

“When I was playing, they were moving in the direction of artificial turf,” Amundson said. “Now they are going back to grass to save careers.

“Players are also bigger,” Amundson added. “Three-hundred pounds for linemen are normal now, and they weren’t in the 1970s.”

George Amundson, now 47 and residing in Texas, has a wife and three children. He is also a salesperson for Gulf Systems, and he credits Iowa State for being a big part of his life.

When it comes to being in touch with former teammates, he tries very hard to do that.

“Frequently, some of my teammates from the Sun Bowl year do have get-togethers, which is always nice because we can reminisce,” Amundson said.

When ISU’s Gene Smith called him to see if he would accept the invitation to be in the Hall of Fame, Amundson claimed he was “honored and appreciative.” He also described it as the “icing on the cake” to a great career at Iowa State.