Duke Slater - Honors

Honors

Slater was one of just five football players inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame in the Hall's inaugural year in 1951, joining Nile Kinnick, Aubrey Devine, Jay Berwanger, and Elmer Layden.

Duke Slater is one of two Iowa players who was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1951 (Nile Kinnick was the other). In the 1960s, before Iowa Stadium had been renamed after Nile Kinnick, some suggested that Iowa should name the stadium after Slater. Instead, the University of Iowa named a residence hall after Duke. Slater Hall in Iowa City bears Duke's name; it is the only residence hall at Iowa named after a former athlete.

Slater was a finalist for election to the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1970 and 1971, but he failed to gain sufficient votes for election and his candidacy fell by the wayside as the generation who remembered him as a player grew old and died.

In 1989, Iowa fans selected an all-time University of Iowa football team during the 100th anniversary celebration of Iowa football, and Duke Slater was selected as an offensive tackle. Duke Slater is also a member of the National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll of The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C..