Almost as memorable as Jim Dombrowski's selection to the College Football Hall of Fame was his notification.

"On Saturday, I was invited to play in a member-guest [golf tournament] and when I got back to the house after the round, there was a strange box waiting for me on the kitchen table," Dombrowski, an offensive lineman at Virginia from 1981-85, said Thursday.

"I opened it up and there was a letter and a football inside that the National Football Foundation had painted, indicating my selection to the hall of fame. That was kind of a neat and creative way to learn about the honor."

He is one of 15 members of the 2008 class, which was announced Thursday, and joins six other previously inducted hall-of-famers with UVa ties, including his former coach George Welsh.

Dombrowski, a two-time winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the ACC's top offensive lineman, was Virginia's first unanimous All-America selection. Later, his No. 73 was retired by the university.

Virginia also is represented in the hall by former players Bill Dudley, Tom Scott and Joe Palumbo, as well as ex-coaches Earle "Greasy" Neale and Frank Murray.

"Quite frankly, I'm really humbled," said Dombrowski, who spent 11 seasons with the New Orleans Saints, who took him with the sixth overall pick in the 1986 NFL draft.

He played in a franchise-record 147 consecutive games and was named to the Saints Hall of Fame in 2003.

"I never thought about a college scholarship until my senior year in high school. I was just hoping for a spot on the field," Dombrowski said.

Dombrowski, listed at 6-foot-5 and 296 pounds as a UVa senior in 1985, came from the Buffalo, N.Y., suburb of Williamsville and played club hockey throughout high school.

"Hockey was actually my first love," Dombrowski said. "I enjoy watching it. I enjoyed playing it. Was pretty good at it, too."

After posting winning seasons only twice in a 30-year span, Virginia had winning records in each of Dombrowski's last three seasons.

The program made its first bowl appearance, where the Cavaliers beat Purdue in the 1984 Peach Bowl.

"I think George would be the first to admit that Coach [Dick] Bestwick and his staff gave them some good players that they were able to build upon," said Dombrowski, who was a Bestwick recruit.

"Through everybody's hard work, we were able to get the program headed in the right direction. Obviously, I have a tremendous sense of pride that I was part of a group of guys that got the ball rolling downhill."

Dombrowski had hoped to go to medical school and become an orthopedic surgeon but his professional career lasted longer than the norm.

He became a certified financial advisor and also works as a volunteer line coach at Mandeville (La.) High School, where his 6-4, 225-pound son, Matt, will be a junior offensive lineman next year.

Dombrowski and his fellow selections were chosen from a list of 83 finalists that included 75 players and eight coaches.

"That's why I'm humbled," said Dombrowski, whose wife, Sandy, is a former UVa classmate from Buena Vista. "Geez, probably the least-recognized person on there is the offensive lineman from Virginia."