PAUL SAKUMA/Associated Press
Vince Young became a college football legend when he led the Texas Longhorns to a thrilling national championship victory over the USC Trojans, and he cemented his status as one of the best in the sport’s history Monday when he headlined the 2019 College Football Hall of Fame class.
Young was joined by players such as Joe Thomas, Troy Polamalu and Patrick Willis in the class that was announced on SportsCenter.
Here is a look at the 13 players and two coaches who were selected as Hall of Famers from a ballot that included 76 players and six coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 100 players and 32 coaches from other divisions.
Vince Young, QB, Texas
Joe Thomas, OL, Wisconsin
Troy Polamalu, S, USC
Raghib Ismail, WR/RB, Notre Dame
Terrell Buckley, DB, Florida State
Rickey Dixon, DB, Oklahoma
London Fletcher, LB, John Carroll
Jacob Green, DL, Texas A&M
Torry Holt, WR, North Carolina State
Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
Jake Plummer, QB, Arizona State
Lorenzo White, RB, Michigan State
Patrick Willis, LB, Ole Miss
Dennis Erickson, Coach; Wyoming, Washington State, Miami, Oregon State, Idaho and Arizona State
Joe Taylor, Coach; Hampton, Florida A&M, Virginia Union and Howard
Young will always be remembered among college football fans for his brilliant 2005 season that saw him win the Maxwell Award as the nation’s player of the year, the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s best quarterback and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
He capped off the effort by leading the Longhorns to a dramatic 41-38 victory over the Trojans in the BCS National Championship.
He tallied 267 passing yards and 200 rushing yards while scoring three times on the ground, including the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds.
Elsewhere, Thomas anchored Wisconsin’s offensive line as an Outland Trophy winner as the nation’s most outstanding interior lineman and parlayed his talent into 10 Pro Bowl appearances and six First Team All-Pro nods during an 11-year NFL career with the Cleveland Browns after he was selected with the No. 3 pick in the 2007 draft.
NFL fans will surely recognize the likes of Polamalu, Darren McFadden, Willis and Torry Holt, among others, but they made their names at the collegiate level before their professional success.
Polamalu was an All-American at USC and helped anchor the Trojans’ secondary for three years, including in 2002 when they won the Orange Bowl.
It wasn’t just players who made the cut this year, as the Goodyear Blimp was recognized as an honorary member of the class:
Football Foundation @NFFNetwork
Please join us in welcoming one of college football’s biggest icons and innovators as an honorary member of the 2019 College Football Hall of Fame Class. The @GoodyearBlimp! #GoodyearBlimp
Full story: https://t.co/e9DlyYXdqP https://t.co/CR8LJCfYeN
The National Football Foundation explained the eligibility rules, which are among the strictest in all of sports.
Players must be between 10 and 50 seasons removed from their final collegiate year, although those who have been out of the game for more than 50 years are eligible through the Football Bowl Subdivision and Divisional Veterans Committees.
Players must also have been recognized as a First-Team All-American, and one’s “post-football record as a citizen” is also considered.
Coaches are eligible immediately after retirement if they are at least 70 years old, while active coaches must be at least 75. Those who aren’t are eligible three years after retirement.
Coaches must also boast a winning percentage of .600 or better throughout a career that spans at least 10 years and 100 games.
“It’s an enormous honor to just be on the ballot when you think that more than 5.26 million people have played college football and only 997 players have been inducted,” NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell said in a June press release.
“The Hall’s requirement of being a First-Team All-American creates a much smaller pool of about 1,500 individuals who are even eligible. Being in today’s elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to have ever played the game, and those actually elected to the Class will be part of a momentous year as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of college football in 2019.”
Some of the inductees in the class of 2019 will be present at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, to be honored prior to Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game between Alabama and Clemson.
The class will officially be enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta in December.
from Viral News Show http://bit.ly/2CV9BmE
0 Comments