NEW YORK — A football injury 25 years ago left Mike Utley paralyzed. The former Washington State and Detroit Lions offensive lineman played before concussion protocol, targeting fouls and rule tweaks intended to make a violent game safer.

Ask him about the way the game has changed over the years and he responds with a question: “Do I have to be politically correct?”

Utley still misses football and tries to stay as close to it as he can, whether he’s attending Cougars games in Pullman, Wash., or Lions games in Detroit or pee-wee games wherever. He was able to reconnect again on Tuesday as part of the National Football Foundation’s latest class to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Utley was a three-time All-Pac 10 selection and an All-American as a senior in 1988 at Washington State. He was joined in the latest class of Hall of Famers by 13 players and two coaches:

Nebraska-Omaha quarterback Marlin Briscoe

Florida State linebacker Derrick Brooks

Ohio State linebacker Tom Cousineau

UNLV quarterback and punter Randall Cunningham

Iowa State running back Troy Davis

North Carolina defensive tackle William Fuller

LSU quarterback Bert Jones

Wisconsin defensive lineman Tim Krumrie

Harvard tight end and punter Pat McInally

Colorado defensive end Herb Orvis

Ashland linebacker Bill Royce

Georgia defensive back Scott Woerner

Purdue defensive back Rod Woodson

New Hampshire coach Bill Bowes

Lycoming coach Frank Girardi

Utley, 50, was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1989 and became starter. In 1991, he suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury during a game against the Rams at the Silverdome. The injury paralyzed him from the chest down, but he famously gave a thumbs-up as he was being taken off the field.

He said players today are “stronger, they’re faster, they’re meaner, tougher than what we were back down there.” But he doesn’t think the game needs to change.