LaMichael James remembers taking a deep breath as he walked on the field at the Rose Bowl in 2012.

“When you go into the Rose Bowl, the grass just smells different,” James said in a recent interview. “It’s almost like you can smell the history in there.”

James would rush for 159 yards and a touchdown in his final game at Oregon, leading the Ducks to a thrilling, 45-38 win over Wisconsin — the program’s first Rose Bowl victory in the modern era.

The all-time great Ducks running back enters the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame this year, securing his permanent place in history at the Granddaddy of Them All. He and fellow inductees Reggie Bush (USC) and Mark Dantonio (Michigan State) will be honored at a Tuesday ceremony, at the 136th Rose Parade the next day, and on the field at the Rose Bowl game — in which No. 1 Oregon (13-0) will play No. 8 Ohio State (11-2) in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal (2 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN).

“I found out a few months ago, and to be honest, I was little on the fence,” James said. “I didn’t really want to go and spend New Year’s Day in L.A. I just wanted to chill. But it’s such a huge accomplishment, especially getting in there with a guy like Reggie Bush, who I looked up to growing up. It’s surreal.”

After three electrifying seasons in Eugene and four in the NFL, James entered the Oregon and college football halls of fame in 2023 — sharing the latter honor with Bush as well. The 35-year-old James owns and operates three Killer Burger restaurants in Oregon and said he has watched the Ducks’ undefeated 2024 season closely.

Once it became official that No. 1 Oregon would be headed to the Rose Bowl for its College Football Playoff quarterfinal game, James said he was elated.

“I was obviously rooting for Oregon to beat Penn State so they’d get that bid into the Rose Bowl,” James said. “And when that clock hit zero, I was like, ‘Man, Oregon is going to the Rose Bowl. I’m going into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.’ You couldn’t have written this any better.

“I’m extremely blessed for this. I’m really excited, too, because I haven’t made it to a game this year. I’m really happy for Oregon, for (Dan) Lanning. It’s going to be a great weekend.”

James isn’t some big-name alum hitching himself to the bandwagon now that Oregon is back on the national scene. He’s a self-described “diehard” fan who has watched every game this season, chuckling while admitting just how locked in he is.

“I base my entire life around watching Oregon,” James said with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure I’ve missed something with my kids this year just to watch Oregon. Just a huge fan of Lanning. They play the game the right way, and you can tell they work well together as a team. There’s no fluff, there’s no hype. They just get the job done. They’re physical, they’re big, they’re fast, they’re strong, they’re disciplined. Everything you want in a championship team.”

Those around the Oregon football program credit the teams of the mid-1990s for laying the foundation, and inspiring mega-donor and alum Phil Knight to start investing in football. After a steady ascent in the 2000s, including a Fiesta Bowl win over Colorado in 2002, it was James’ teams from 2009 to 2011 that turbocharged the Ducks’ arrival on the national scene and growth as a brand.

A loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl in 2010, and to Auburn in the BCS national championship game in 2011, preceded the Ducks’ and James’ moment of Rose Bowl glory against the Badgers. In James’ view, players of his era (and of Marcus Mariota’s soon after) ran — fast and in flashy uniforms — so that Lanning’s 2024 team could eventually walk up and take a sledgehammer to the Big Ten.

“When you’re in that moment, you don’t realize it’s bigger than just you,” James said. “When you’re winning, it impacts people around you who built that foundation. The university, the city, the state, everybody cares. It’s an honor to put that Oregon jersey on, and that means something. Especially to people who laid the foundation. Players, fans, coaches, Phil Knight. Being in the position to get it done. I’m extremely proud of how this (2024) team has built on that foundation.”

James has been negotiating with Rose Bowl officials to wear an Oregon jacket instead of his Rose Bowl Hall of Fame jacket when he’s honored on the field Jan. 1. If all else fails, he joked that he plans to wear the Ducks jacket under the Hall of Fame one, no matter how much it makes him sweat.

But what James said his Oregon teams — and this one — have proven is it doesn’t matter what you wear.

“I remember going to Oregon and it was all about the uniforms. Everything had swag, they switched uniforms every week, they had so many different combinations,” James said. “Chip Kelly told us, ‘We need to make it less about the uniforms, and more about how we play.’ Soon, it started to come. Oregon was fly and all that, but then you had to also say, ‘Oregon is really good.’

“Physical. Flashy, but ultimately taking care of business between the lines. And you see that playing out this year especially. My teams and Marcus’s teams, we set the foundation. It’s about the person underneath the uniforms.”