New Hall of Fame Class

With so many college football programs, the number of good players to choose from when selecting College Football Hall of Famers is always daunting. The 14 men chosen this year (Dennis Byrd, Ronnie Caveness, Ray Childress, Randy Cross, Sam Cunningham, Mark Herrmann, Clarkston Hines, Desmond Howard, Chet Moeller, Jerry Stovall, Pat Tillman, Alfred Williams and coaches Barry Alvarez and Gene Stallings) are another outstanding group, albeit without too many headliners. In fact the biggest name might be the only deceased member of the group, Pat Tillman, who certainly deserved enshrinement based on both his play on the field for Arizona State in the 1990s and his sacrifice off of it.

You see the College Hall, more than any other, gives a great deal of focus in picking enshrinees on what the player did off of the field. One has to have been great on it, earning All America status, but the criteria for selection also includes classwork and contributions to society, etc. So Pat Tillman, who not only died serving his country but was an honor student at Arizona State, is in, but Brian Bosworth is not, as he is considered a boor by voters and was caught cheating with steroids while at Oklahoma (although he was a good student). Chet Moeller, the fine safety at Navy in the early to mid '70s gets the nod, but Deion Sanders, one of the great defensive backs in college football history has to wait. Deion famously did not go to class his final year once his requirements for eligibility were over. The Hall is reserved for student-athletes, or at least those players who do not mock the idea of going to class.

But let's focus on the positive. Three members of the class, Dennis Byrd, Ronnie Caveness and Jerry Stovall, played before my time but certainly deserved their spots. I especially like Byrd's inclusion as the Wolfpack need some more members of the Hall. The rest of the group all bring back memories as I saw them play or coach. My friends and I actually created a game we called "Sam Cunningham" to honor his leaping ability. Two kids defended the back of a couch and a third had to try to get into the end zone--the front of the couch--by leaping between/through the others. Yes we broke some things, mostly egos. As a Notre Dame fan, Herrmann's career was probably the one I watched the most as he made the Boilermakers formidable in the late '70s. And coach Alvarez was smart enough to build a great system in Madison around what the state grew best: big offensive linemen and hard-nosed defenders.

In the coming days I will include some of the games in our encyclopedia that feature fine play or coaching by the new members. Congratulations to all.