DEMENT, A COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMER, DRAFTED BY GIANTS, U.S.

Although professional athletes didn't make the absurd amounts of money in Kenneth Dement's day as they do now, the College Football Hall of Famer made a noble decision upon his graduation at Southeast Missouri State University to serve his country rather than the New York Giants.

Drafted by the Giants, Dement passed up the opportunity to play professional football and joined the United States Marine Corps, where he rose to the rank of Captain.

Dement, an offensive and defensive football tackle at Southeast Missouri State from 1951-54 was the first player from a Missouri College other than the University of Missouri to be elected to the national College Football Hall of Fame.

Dement, who had his No. 40 jersey retired in 1989, played almost every minute of every game during his four-year career at Southeast, winning first-team All-America honors from the NAIA and Williamson Scouting Service in 1954. That year, he led Southeast to a 7-2 record.

He was also the first Southeast player drafted by an NFL team.

Dement began his football career at Sikeston High School under coach Kenneth Knox.

A very successful lawyer after his military career, Dement was featured on the television show "60 Minutes" after winning a $1,136,800 settlement in Griggs v. Fireston "Exploding Rim Case." Dement earned his law degree at Washington University in St. Louis.

Dement is now an attorney in Sikeston and is a former member of the Southeast Board of Regents.