By Harry King

LITTLE ROCK — Eddie Meador’s choice of college must have come up in the sports department, most likely on a slow night in January, right after the All-NFL team was announced.

Just as certainly, The Arkansas Gazette’s Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference resident expert provided an accurate or, at least, plausible explanation of why the Los Angeles Rams star played at Arkansas Tech.

Remember, that naive reporter was doing the asking when Frank Broyles had Razorback football ginning to the point that anybody from Arkansas worthy of the NFL just had to be a Razorback.

Meador’s daughter, Vicki, says she never heard her father mention any contact with the Razorbacks.

He visited Texas A&M and Tulsa, but Bear Bryant and other coaches said he was too small and, when he returned to Russellville, Sam Hindsman offered a scholarship to Tech.

“Looking back, Dad says he is glad it turned out that way,” she said in an e-mail. “Going to a small school where he got to know so many people instead of being considered just another ‘number.’”

Meador began organized football in the seventh grade in Ovalo, Texas, but moved to Russellville and was ineligible his sophomore year because of pending paperwork. He missed the next year after suffering a hip injury in preseason practice. So, his high school resume was all of one season.

This column was to be a feel-good about the efforts of Meador’s adult children to get their father a deserved spot in the NFL Hall of Fame. Instead, a low-life who swiped the password for his e-mail account is part of the fabric.

The thief sent an e-mail to at least 200 people, identifying himself as Meador and saying that he needed money to get home from a seminar in England. It smelled bogus.

Everyone who knows her father, Vicki said, knows that he would never: “Ask people for money, use e-mail to do that, FORGET HIS WALLET, and go to England for a seminar.

“The man does not even fly anymore and hasn’t in years,” she said.

It took her several days to straighten out the mess.

Six times in the 1960s, Meador was a Pro Bowl safety. He spent 12 years with the Los Angeles Rams, played in 159 consecutive games, and was one of three safeties on the NFL All-Decade team. The others — Larry Wilson of St. Louis and Willie Wood of Green Bay — are in the Hall of Fame and Meador’s four kids believe their father is also worthy.

Last fall, son Dave, a high school English teacher in Russellville, and the other siblings asked their father if they could campaign for him.

“He humbly said, ‘Yes,” and that ‘this would mean a great deal to me,’” Vicki said.

Their Web site, edmeador21.com, noted their father’s accomplishments, included testimonials, and explained the process for nominating Meador to the Hall of Fame. Vicki said the “How to Nominate” link had to be changed because the Hall of Fame Selection Committee received so many notes reciting Meador’s stats and awards.

There is no limit on the number of nominations, but a seniors committee whittles the list to two from the pre-1985 era. Election requires 80 percent of the vote from a 44-member board.

The 71-year-old Meador, who lives on 10 acres north of Roanoke, Va., has said that his election is a longshot.

If he gets on the ballot, Meador has four campaign managers who are ready, willing and able.

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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.