Big Bruce ... who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year ... for his outstanding play in the 19 seasons he toiled in the NFL. His former Oilers coach Eddie Biles saluted him for also being," a dedicated father, and husband .... plus he hosts bible studies in his home every Friday." Biles looked at all the assembled standout high school players on the dias Wednesday night and simply said,"You young men need to aspire to be Bruce Matthews." Matthews was clearly the best athlete on most of those Oilers teams that he was a part of.

Also honored Wednesday night were the Touchdown Club's 2008 Pre-Season High School All-Greater Houston Team ... and even though there will be local youngsters who excel during the upcoming season ..... the Touchdown Club brought in 30 standout players to be recognized.

Led by Senior quarterback Russell Shepherd out of Cy-Ridge High School ..... this senior class is impressive. Shepherd .. who runs a 4.35 40 has commited to LSU. He was his District's MVP in 2007.

Also from that Cy-Fair ISD based district .... Kolby Gray a quarterback out of Cy-Falls is poised for a big year. Gray is uncommitted at this point ....although he's been offered by several Division One schools. Another quarterback represented was A.J. Highsmith .... he's former Oilers running back Alonzo Highsmith's son .... and he's already committed to Miami. The 4th quarterback on hand was Jacob Karam out of Friendswood. He's committed to Texas Tech.

Talking with Westfield High School's head coach Corby Meekins ... it sounds like he's loaded .... especially at receiver.

Matthews joked when he took the podium ... that he couldn't believe that out of 30 All-Stars ....there were only 2 offensive lineman named. Matthews grew up in Southern California ....and starred at USC before being drafted in thte first round by the Oilers. He has two sons who will be playing for Elkins H.S. this season ...and when I asked him what his overall thoughts are on Texas High School football compared to Southern California's ..and he said," It was big there but not quite as big as it is here in Texas. The people are passionate about it and the kids get into it. I love the fact that they do a great job of preparing these kids not only conditioning-wise but just investing the time in the kids. I think they're doing much more than just developing football players .... they're trying to develop young men." Trying to develop young men like Hall of Famer and Touchdowner of the Year .... Bruce Matthews.