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Steve Hatchell,
President & CEO
Media Contacts:
Phil Marwill | 917-579-4256
Alan Cox | 972-556-1000
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NFF to Announce 2018 College Football Hall of Fame Class on Jan. 8
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The NFF will announce the 2018 College Football Hall of Fame Class live on Monday, Jan. 8, during SportsCenter on ESPN. The announcement continues the trend of announcing the new Hall of Fame Class in conjunction with the College Football Playoff National Championship, which will be played that night between Alabama and Georgia.
Click here to see the complete 2018 ballot, which includes 75 players and six coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 98 players and 31 coaches from the divisional ranks. A few members of the newly announced class will take part in pregame festivities and be recognized on the field before the coin toss. |
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Members of the 2017 College Football Hall of Fame Class were honored on the field during the 13th Annual National Hall of Fame Salute at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on New Year's Day. Prior to the game, a multi-day celebration for the inductees took place in Atlanta, including several unique events and a special public ceremony Dec. 31 at the College Football Hall of Fame where the inductees saw their legendary accomplishments permanently immortalized for the first time.
Pictured above are members of the 2017 College Football Hall of Fame Class at a dinner the night before the game. Front Row, L-R: Coach Danny Ford (Clemson, Arkansas), Bob McKay (Texas), Coach Steve Spurrier (Duke, Florida, South Carolina), Bob Crable (Notre Dame), Mike Ruth (Boston College). Back Row, L-R: Adrian Peterson (Georgia Southern), Dat Nguyen (Texas A&M), Coach Larry Kehres (Mount Union [Ohio]), Matt Leinart (Southern California). |
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The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame remembered those who passed away in 2017 and played a role in improving the game of college football for future generations. Pictured above are College Football Hall of Fame coaches Frank Broyles and Ara Parseghian, who both passed away this year.
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After the annual In Memoriam release at the end of the year, the NFF mourns the passing of two more College Football Hall of Famers.
Pervis Atkins, New Mexico State's only College Football Hall of Fame player (inducted in 2009), passed away Dec. 21. The 1960 First Team All-American was 82. Atkins played on both of New Mexico State's Sun Bowl championship teams in 1959 and 1960, capping a perfect season in 1960 with a 20-13 victory over Utah State. Atkins twice topped the nation in all-purpose yards (1959-60) and led the nation in rushing (971) and punt return yards (241) in 1959.
Hal Bedsole, a consensus All-America receiver on Southern California's undefeated 1962 national championship football team and a 2012 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, passed away Friday, Dec. 22, in Arizona. He had turned 76 the day before. One of the original "big" (6-5, 221 pounds) wide receivers in college football, he was a three-year letterman (1961-63) at USC and a two-time first team all-conference selection (1961-62). He caught 82 passes for 1,717 yards and 20 touchdowns in his Trojan career, all school records at the time.
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As part of its "I'm A Football Player®" initiative, the NFF is producing a series of graphics to be distributed through social media every Tuesday and Thursday this fall, highlighting former college football players that have experienced success off the field. From Fortune 500 CEOs, to lawyers and doctors, to coaches and teachers and all other walks of life, our goal is to showcase everyone who has benefited from the game of football, sharing their stories across the nation.
Click here to view all of the past
"I'm A Football Player®" profiles.
If you, or someone you know, would like to take part and share a football story, please email us at:
[email protected].
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The entrance to the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
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2017 Hall of Fame Salute - Specialty Exhibit Delivered by UPS: The College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience will open its latest exhibit honoring the 2017 Hall of Fame Class in the Specialty Exhibit delivered by UPS. The temporary display will be open through the spring of 2018.
Championship Series Tailgate Built by The Home Depot, Jan. 8: Join the Hall on Monday, Jan. 8, for the Championship Series Tailgate Built by The Home Depot. Watch the College Football Playoff National Championship and enjoy cash bar and concessions. Fans can participate in The Home Depot scavenger hunt and try to find five official College GameDay hard hats. Each guest that finds a hat in our building will receive a special prize.
The Home Depot and College Football Hall of Fame College GameDay Sweepstakes:
At the College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience, you have the chance to show your skills and pick your winner by recording your very own GameDay video sitting alongside
Rece Davis
and Hall of Famer
Desmond Howard
(Michigan). Share that video socially and you could score some awesome GameDay prizes.
Click here
for contest details.
About the College Football Hall of Fame: The College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience opened its doors Aug. 23, 2014, in the heart of Atlanta's sports, entertainment and tourism district. Adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park, the new Hall provides visitors with a highly immersive, interactive and engaging experience using a blend of historic college football artifacts and state-of-the-art, interactive multimedia exhibits. To plan your visit and purchase tickets, visit www.cfbhall.com.
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The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
released
its honorary 50th Anniversary Team, which includes College Football Hall of Famers
Ted Brown (North Carolina State),
Jim Dombrowski (Virginia), Wilber Marshall (Florida), Don McCauley (North Carolina), Jim Ritcher (North Carolina State),
Ron Sellers (Florida State), Mike Singletary (Baylor), Art Still (Kentucky), Darryl Talley (West Virginia), Randy White (Maryland), Reggie White (Tennessee),
David Williams (Illinois) and Rod Woodson (Purdue); Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden; 1998 Campbell Trophy® winner Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia); and 1986 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Harris Barton (North Carolina).
College Football Hall of Famers Tom Cousineau (Ohio State) and Russell Maryland (Miami [Fla.]) were inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame during the annual Orange Bowl Coaches Luncheon on Dec. 29.
College Football Hall of Fame coach John Robinson and Hall of Fame running back Ricky Williams (Texas) will be inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame during a ceremony at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the second week of May.
College Football Hall of Famers Tim Brown (Notre Dame), Davey O'Brien (TCU) and Jerry Rhome (Tulsa) are part of the inaugural class of the Dallas Independent School District Athletics Hall of Fame.
College Football Hall of Famer Willie Roaf (Louisiana Tech) will be inducted into the East-West Shrine Game Hall of Fame on Jan. 19.
2008 Campbell Trophy® winner Alex Mack (California) and NFF National Scholar-Athlete Drew Brees (Purdue - 2000) were named to the Pro Bowl. It is the fifth Pro Bowl for Mack while Brees has been named to his 11th.
2017 NFF National Scholar-Athlete/Campbell Trophy® Finalist Updates
All FBS rankings below reflect the Final FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll
2017 Campbell Trophy® winner Micah Kiser was second on the team with 11 tackles as Virginia lost to Navy in the 2017 Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman. Kiser finished with 145 tackles in 2017, the second-highest single-season total in school history. The game was his 21st career double-digit tackle game in 37 starts, and he
finished his UVA career with 411 tackles, which ranks No. 5 all-time at the school. He was also honored during a special scholar-athlete segment during the Hyundai Sun Bowl on CBS. Kiser will play next in the Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 27, which will kick off at 2:30 p.m. ET and air on the NFL Network.
Wide receiver Braxton Berrios had three catches for 45 yards in Miami (Fla.)'s loss to
Wisconsin in the Capital One Orange Bowl. Berrios will play next in the Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 27, which will kick off at 2:30 p.m. ET and air on the NFL Network.
In his final game as a Wildcat, running back
Justin Jackson earned Most Valuable Player honors after rushing for a game-high 157 yards and two touchdowns to lead Northwestern to its 10th win of the season and the 2017 Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl title with a 24-23 victory over Kentucky. It was his 27th 100-yard rushing performance. Jackson finished the season with 1,311 rushing yards, giving him a career total of 5,440, which rank 10th in FBS history and third in the Big Ten record books.
He will
play in the 93rd Annual East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Jan. 20, which will kick off at 3 p.m. ET and air on the NFL Network.
Offensive lineman Justin Lea was named a 2017 Walter Camp FCS All-American and an AFCA FCS Second Team All-American.
Oklahoma State center Brad Lundblade helped the Cowboys gain 488 yards of total offense in a 30-21 win over Virginia Tech in the Camping World Bowl. The win gave Oklahoma State three consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time in program history, with Lundblade a part of all three. The prolific Cowboys offense finishes the season leading the FBS with 389.2 passing yards per game and second with 568.9 total yards per game. Lundblade will play next in the 93rd Annual East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Jan. 20, which will kick off at 3 p.m. ET and air on the NFL Network.
For the fourth consecutive year, Slippery Rock (Pa.) defensive end Marcus Martin was named a national finalist for the Cliff Harris Award, which is presented annually to the top small college defensive player in the country (NCAA Divisions II and III and the NAIA). He will play in the 93rd Annual East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Jan. 20, which will kick off at 3 p.m. ET and air on the NFL Network.
Georgia State defensive back
Chandon Sullivan
will play in the Reese's Senior Bowl on Jan. 27 in Mobile, Ala., which will kick off at 2:30 p.m. ET and air on the NFL Network.
South Dakota State wide receiver Jake Wieneke was named a 2017 AFCA FCS Second Team All-American. He will be honored with the 2017 Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award at the STATS FCS Awards Banquet and Presentation on Jan. 5 in Frisco, Texas. He will play next in the 93rd Annual East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Jan. 20, which will kick off at 3 p.m. ET and air on the NFL Network.
Weekly TV Schedule:
Each week during the season, the NFF produces a comprehensive television schedule for all Division I (FBS and FCS) games complete with date, time, teams and on-air talent listings. Email [email protected] to sign up for the weekly schedule.
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The NFF Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter will hold a luncheon on Jan. 17 at Lombardo's Restaurant (Airport location) featuring Joe Castellano, the author of Bull in the Ring: Football and Faith: Refuge in a Troubled Time.
The mission of the National Football Foundation and our members, simply stated, is to ensure and promote the future of amateur football. If you are not already a member, or if you have been a member in the past, we hope you will join in our effort to see this mission through.
Click here
for more information and to join.
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Obituaries
Legendary broadcaster Dick Enberg, who called the Rose Bowl Game for nearly a decade among many notable sporting events, passed away Dec. 21. He was 82... Former Virginia Union All-America safety William "Dill" Dillon passed away Dec. 16. He was 59... Frank North, the University of West Alabama's all-time winningest football coach, passed away Dec. 19. He was 92... Former Alabama football player Fred Sington Jr., whose father is in the College Football Hall of Fame, passed away Dec. 19. He was 82... Kevin Glackmeyer, the chief photographer for Troy University, passed away Dec. 19. He was 61... Former Northwestern State football player Charlie Hennigan passed away Dec. 20. He was 82... Former Penn State offensive lineman
Adam Gress
died Dec. 21. He was 26... Former Chattanooga athletics director, head football coach and football player
Harold Wilkes passed away Dec. 23. He was 85... Former Tennessee wingback
Bob Sandlin passed away Dec. 23. He was 80... Former Mississippi quarterback and defensive back Raymond Brown passed away Dec. 25. He was 81... Former Florida football player Larry Libertore passed away Dec. 25. He was 78... Former Tennessee football player Bobby Gratz passed away Dec. 25. He was 73... Former Rice football player Raymond Chilton Jr. passed away Dec. 28. He was 81...
College Football Playoff National Championship
Alabama and Georgia will meet in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, Jan. 8, in Atlanta, Ga. The game will kick off at 8 p.m. ET on
ESPN...
FCS National Championship
North Dakota State and James Madison will meet in the FCS National Championship on Saturday, Jan. 6, in Frisco, Texas. The game will kick off at Noon ET on ESPN2...
More News of Interest
A total of 116 SEC football student-athletes wore the SEC Graduation Patch in postseason bowl games... Troy broke the single-season attendance record at Veterans Memorial Stadium for the second straight year... Bloomsburg (Pa.) agreed to a five-year partnership NFF-partner Under Armour...
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The NFF's exciting new book,
Lessons from Legends: 12 Hall of Fame Coaches on Leadership, Life, and Leaving a Legacy
, is available now. The book makes a great gift for any fan of the game and can be purchased by
clicking here
.
Lessons from Legends
may be the greatest collection of college football knowledge ever assembled.
The book features Q&As with 12 College Football Hall of Fame coaches as they discuss their careers, the lessons they learned and specific features or topics that marked their time on the sidelines. The Hall of Fame coaches involved are Barry Alvarez, Mike Bellotti, Marino Casem, Fisher DeBerry, Terry Donahue, Vince Dooley, Phillip Fulmer, Frank Girardi, Tom Osborne, R.C. Slocum, Steve Spurrier and Barry Switzer.
With a foreword by former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and quotes from College Football Hall of Famers Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning and Danny Wuerffel, and from Washington head coach Chris Petersen, this book has an unmatched combination of football talent.
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Join the NFF
Support amateur football in your area by joining the NFF today.
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Jan. 8, 2018 -
Announcement of the 2018 College Football Hall of Fame Class prior to College Football Playoff National Championship - Atlanta, Ga.
Jan. 8, 2018
- College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium - Atlanta, Ga.
Dec. 3, 2018 -
Ivy League's Asa S. Bushnell Cup Announcement, presented by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, at the New York Hilton Midtown - New York City
Dec. 4, 2018 -
NFF Annual Awards Press Conference at the New York Hilton Midtown - New York City
Dec. 4, 2018 -
NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon, presented by Under Armour, at the New York Hilton Midtown - New York City
Dec. 4, 2018 -
61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the New York Hilton Midtown - New York City, including the induction of the 2018 College Football Hall of Fame Class and the 29th presentation of The William V. Campbell Trophy
®
, presented by Fidelity Investments and prominently displayed at the New York Athletic Club.
Dec. 5, 2018 -
Campbell Trophy® Luncheon at the New York Athletic Club - New York City
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Advertising in NFF publications will put your organization in front of key decision makers in football including key administrators, coaches, players, former players, as well as other key sports business executives throughout the year.
To inquire about the print advertising opportunities available, please contact Clerrinda Queen at 704-987-4089 or [email protected].
The NFF would like to thank NFF correspondent Bo Carter for his contributions to this report.
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