College Football Hall of Fame

Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox museum The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were voted first team All-American by the media.

In August 2014, the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame opened in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The facility is a Template:Convert attraction located in the heart of Atlanta's sports, entertainment and tourism district, and is adjacent to the Georgia World Congress Center and Centennial Olympic Park.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

Early plans

In 1949, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, was selected as the site for football's Hall of Fame, via a vote by thousands of sportswriters, coaches, and athletic leaders. Rutgers was chosen for the location because Rutgers and Princeton played the first game of intercollegiate football in New Brunswick on November 6, 1869.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Secondary plans in 1967<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> called for the Hall of Fame to be located at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the location of the first contest under rules now considered to be those of modern football, between teams from Rutgers and the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University; Rutgers won 6–4. Rutgers donated land near its football stadium, office space, and administrative support. After years of collecting donations starting in 1949 for the construction of the building with ground not having been broken and no plans to do so, the New Jersey Attorney General began an investigation of the finances of the Hall of Fame's foundation, the National Football Foundation. In response, the Foundation moved its operations to New York City, where it continued to collect donations for several years.

Kings Mills

When the New York Attorney General's office began its own investigation, the foundation moved to Kings Mills, Ohio in suburban Cincinnati, where a building finally was constructed adjacent to Kings Island in 1978.<ref name=c1/><ref name=scholastic/> In choosing the site, it had been hoped that the museum could attract the same visitors attending the adjacent Kings Island amusement park, but this failed to happen.<ref name=scholastic/> The Hall opened with good attendance figures early on, but visitation dwindled dramatically as time went on and never truly met projections.<ref name=c1/> Attendance, which had been projected to be 300,000 annually, peaked at 80,000 per year and dwindled to 30,000 per year.<ref name=c1/><ref name=scholastic>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The facility closed in 1992.<ref name=c1/><ref name=scholastic/> Nearby Galbreath Field remained open as the home of Moeller High School football until 2003.<ref name=c1>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2024, Mercy Health Kings Mills Hospital opened on the site.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

South Bend

File:South-bend-college-football-hall-of-fame.jpg

The College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana featured a newly installed artificial turf field; the South Bend location closed in December 2012.

File:College-football-hall-of-fame-side.jpg

College Football Hall of Fame side entrance in South Bend

File:South-bend-college-football-hall-of-fame-blocking.jpg

Blocking activity cage in South Bend

File:CFB HOF helmet wall.jpg

Wall of helmets representing all NCAA and NAIA teams

In September 1991, the National Football Foundation opened a national search for a new location, soliciting bids from cities.<ref name=scholastic/> It first started by offering bids to cities with local National Football Foundation chapters.<ref name=scholastic/> Thirty-five such cities replied, including South Bend, Indiana.<ref name=scholastic/>

The South Bend bid proposal was led by Bill Starks and Edward "Moose" Krause of the South Bend chapter of the National Football Foundation, who then approached South Bend mayor Joe E. Kernan about the concept.<ref name=scholastic/> Kernan brought the concept to the city's Project Future department, tasked with bringing new attractions to the city to assist its economic development.<ref name=scholastic/> Patrick McMahon, Project Future's executive director, collaborated with over a hundred people to craft a proposal for South Bend to host the Hall of Fame, which was presented to the National Football Foundation in November 1992.<ref name=scholastic/> The proposal slated for a $14 million facility to be constructed in South Bend's downtown.<ref name=scholastic/> Several sites in the city had been explored, such as a site near the Indiana Toll Road and various sites in the city's downtown, but a location near Century Center was the top choice.<ref name=scholastic/>

On July 13, 1992, William Pearce, chairman of the National Football Foundation, made the announcement that South Bend had won the bid to host the Hall of Fame's new location.<ref name=scholastic/> South Bend had beaten out other locales, including Atlanta, Houston, the New Jersey Meadowlands, New Orleans.<ref name=scholastic/>

The new location was opened in South Bend, Indiana, on August 25, 1995. Despite estimates that the South Bend location would attract more than 150,000 visitors a year, the Hall of Fame drew about 115,000 people the first year,<ref name=sbt201212>Template:Cite news</ref> and about 60,000 annually after that.<ref name=moving1>Template:Cite news</ref>

By the late 1990s, some had already begun to criticize the Hall of Fame in South Bend as a failure, due to a lack of corporate sponsorship and poor turnout even during special events.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In September 2009, Archie Manning, the chairman of the National Football Foundation, announced that the museum would be moving to Atlanta.<ref name=moving1/> The South Bend location closed in December of 2012.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Atlanta

In 2009, the National Football Foundation decided to move the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta, Georgia. The possibility of moving the museum has been brought up in other cities, including Dallas, which had the financial backing of multi-millionaire T. Boone Pickens.<ref name="AJC">Template:Cite news</ref> However, the National Football Foundation ultimately decided on Atlanta for the next site. The new $68.5 million museum opened on August 23, 2014.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is located next to Centennial Olympic Park, which is near other attractions such as the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola, CNN Center, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.<ref name=sbt201207>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Hall of Fame is located near the Georgia Institute of Technology of the ACC (home to the oldest stadium in Division I FBS, Bobby Dodd Stadium), 10 blocks from Georgia State University of the Sun Belt Conference, and roughly Template:Convert from the University of Georgia of the SEC. The new building broke ground on January 28, 2013.<ref name=stephenson>Template:Cite news</ref> Sections of the architecture are reminiscent of a football in shape.

The facility is Template:Convert and contains approximately Template:Convert of exhibit and event space, interactive displays and a 45-yard indoor football field.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=bizchron>Template:Cite news</ref> Atlanta Hall Management operates the College Football Hall of Fame.<ref name=stephenson/>

During the George Floyd Protests on May 29, 2020, the Hall of Fame was damaged and looted by protesters.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hall of Fame CEO Kimberly Beaudin told ESPN that only the gift shop was looted, adding that "no artifacts or displays were damaged".<ref name="espn-cfb-hof-looted">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Inductees

Including the class of 2025, there have been 1,111 players and 237 coaches selected for enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame. The inductees represent 326 schools and make up 0.02% of players and coaches throughout college football history.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Additionally, the Goodyear Blimp has received an honorary induction,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> bringing the total number of enshrined entities to 1,349.

Players by school

Institution	Players inducted
Notre Dame	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
USC	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Michigan	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Ohio State	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Yale	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Army	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Oklahoma	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Texas	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Navy	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Alabama	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Tennessee	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Princeton	21<ref name="Atlanta Hall Management, Inc" />
Nebraska	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Penn State	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Pittsburgh	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Minnesota	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Harvard	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Stanford	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Penn	17<ref name="cfbhall.com"/>
California	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
LSU	16
Georgia	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Georgia Tech	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Illinois	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Ole Miss	citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>
UCLA	13Template:CN
Wisconsin	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Washington	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Northwestern	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Purdue	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
NC State	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
SMU	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Syracuse	10<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Texas A&M	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Iowa	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Florida State	9
Arkansas	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Miami (FL)	9Template:CN
Michigan State	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Florida	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Auburn	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Boston College	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
West Virginia	7
Baylor	7
Missouri	7
Virginia Tech	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
BYU	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Virginia	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Marshall	5
Oklahoma State	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Houston	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Kansas State	4
New Mexico	2
Georgia Southern	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Temple	1
Memphis	1
Kansas	1
Montana State	1
North Texas	1
Eastern Illinois	1

Criteria for induction

The National Football Foundation outlines specific criteria that may be used for evaluating a possible candidate for induction into the Hall of Fame.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

1. A player must have received major first team All-America recognition.
2. A player becomes eligible for consideration 10 years after his last year of intercollegiate football played.
3. Football achievements are considered first, but the post-football record as a citizen is also weighed.
4. Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years.
5. The nominee must have ended his professional athletic career prior to the time of the nomination.
6. Coaches must have at least 10 years of head coaching experience, coached 100 games, and had at least a .595 winning percentage.<ref name="hofcriteria">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The eligibility criteria have changed over time, and have occasionally led to criticism.

See also

• Black College Football Hall of Fame

External links

• Template:Official website