NATCHITOCHES -- While their achievements were celebrated Saturday, the four Northwestern State athletic greats being inducted in the Graduate N Club Hall of Fame deflected the spotlight.

Enshrined during NSU's Homecoming celebration were two-time track All-American Al Edwards, also a star receiver for the Demon football team and a starter at receiver for the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV; Steve Graf, whose dual sport career at NSU saw him develop into the only two-sport professional (baseball and football) in school history; Bob Konsdorf, the most accomplished Demon golfer ever; and record-setting softball pitcher Kellie Shotwell.

Their acceptance remarks at  morning ceremonies in the Magale Recital Hall were emotional tributes to those who helped mold their careers, and the university that provided the stage for their athletic and personal successes.

"I can't express the influence Northwestern has had in my career, in my life," said golf great (1971-74) Bob Konsdorf, whose career in the railroad industry has included dealings, and golf matches, with Fortune 500 CEO's and business tycoons such as T. Boone Pickens.

"This is clearly the biggest honor of my life," said Edwards, also a successful businessman who played in two Super Bowls with the Bills after helping NSU win conference championships in football (1988) and track (1987). "For Northwestern to have honored me this way is beyond words.

"My intention coming up (from New Orleans) here to school was to be the best I could be. I never knew it would land me here today. It's beyond my imagination. The days I spent at Northwestern laid the foundation for my business career and my happy life and I am deeply grateful."

All four honorees singled out their coaches as defining influences.

"(Retired football) coach Sam Goodwin and (still active track and field) coach Leon Johnson have truly been an inspiration for me and so many other young people at Northwestern," said Edwards. "I've watched those two men build their athletes into young, successful professionals."

Graf, whose daughter Meredith is a redshirt freshman for the Lady Demons basketball team, doled out gratitude to former head football coach A.L. Williams and former head baseball coach and assistant football coach Herbie Smith, along with his football position coach, Don Guidry, and the coach who signed him, football assistant Al Miller.

"Coach Williams represented all things good about coaching and mentoring young men," said Graf. "(Secondary coach) Don Guidry always knew what buttons to push to get me to play at the highest level. Al Miller recruited me honestly, promised me an opportunity, nothing more, and he challenged me. That was different than the other schools offering me and it made me respect Northwestern.

"Herbie is one of a kind - a guy who could go off on a tangent about all the great players and teams in Demon history, and would. He was fun to play for, and he did something for me I didn't agree with at the time -- moving me from shortstop to the outfield. It was the best move of my career and helped me become the player I could be."

Graf called his adoptive parents "the two greatest coaches I ever had."

"I was diagnosed dyslexic in the second grade. I was on the streets in Houston in elementary school. I was smoking at the age of 8, stealing food from neighbors so I could eat a decent meal. If my mother and dad hadn't adopted me when I was 10, and taken me with them to Mt. Pleasant, Texas, I'd probably be in prison or dead already."

Konsdorf is the only NSU golfer to play in five national championship tournaments. He said his game blossomed thanks to his coach, Jack Hearron, who handled the team and was an assistant basketball coach for Tynes Hildebrand.

"Coach Hearron saw what I couldn't. What I was able to accomplish came from the inspiration of a coach who believed in me and had a special quality to help me develop and excel."

Shotwell, still the Lady Demon softball team's career wins leader (62) from 1986-89, is in her second year as principal at 2,200-student Dickinson High School in the Galveston area. She got the job after being honored as the top assistant principal in Texas in 2006-07.

"I am so thankful for my time at Northwestern, as a student, as a softball player, in my sorority," she said. "We had fun and we worked hard playing for coach Mac (head coach Rickey McCalister). We loaded in vans and ate sack lunches. Those were simpler times.

"Not all the high profile schools played softball at that time. Texas didn't. LSU didn't. So we were playing with the elite in the sport," said Shotwell, who had four career wins over nationally-ranked foes while posting a career 1.41 ERA.  "It was great competition, and great fun."

"I'm proud to see the commitment Northwestern has to softball and to women's athletics. They did what they could for us, based on what resources were available and what other schools were doing. I played at a time when we had four full scholarships and most everybody on the team was getting a quarter or a third at best. For us, it was playing from the heart."

Edwards, signed as a running back and quickly converted to receiver because of his 5-8, 175-pound frame, gave credit to his Demon quarterback, Scott Stoker, and many other NSU teammates including 10-year NFL veteran receiver Floyd Turner and 9-year NFL veteran cornerback Randy Hilliard.

"Scott Stoker was the smartest player I've ever known, and at such a young age, too," said Edwards. "He made all of us better.

"Floyd taught me the position, how to work hard, be determined, how to get in a defensive back's head, how to never quit, and why that creates success."

"We used to call Al 'The Comet' because he was so fast," said Turner. "A lot of my big plays were made because of him drawing the coverage. Defenses feared him."

"Randy and I were high school rivals," said Edwards. "We hated each other. He was the district offensive player of the year. I was the district defensive player of the year. Then we got to Northwestern and we each were recruited to play on the other side of the ball, him on defense, me on offense. We became friends and roommates, and ultimately, we were drafted together. He really looked out for me."

Edwards also noted the special bond between him and 1987 All-America defensive end John Kulakowski, who attended the ceremonies.

"John and I are both Bonnabel High graduates. When I got there, he was the big man on campus and a great player. When I got here, he was the BMOC and a great player. Both places, he couldn't have been a better teammate, a better leader, and now, he's the principal at our high school."

Johnson said Edwards' attitude, intelligence and approach helped him overcome the odds and made him into a Northwestern legend and NFL player.

"You're only small if you think you are," said Johnson. "Al Edwards is a giant."