Wednesday, May 16, 2012

College Football Hall-of-Fame needs to re-examine its bylaws


I very seldom like to give too much credence to awards and accolades because the ultimate reward is the team winning.

However, the College Football Hall of Fame exposed what a joke it really is as Nebraska greats   Tommie Frazier, Eric Crouch and Trev Alberts will have to wait at least one more year to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Crouch and Alberts waiting is one thing but Frazier, that is bogus.

According to Ivan Maisel’s blog, apparently they couldn’t be picked. Maisel reported that a school can’t have players inducted in back-to-back years. I was never aware of any such stipulation.

The College Football Hall of Fame certainly hasn’t always operated under this rule, even recently as USC had a player inducted every year from 2000-2005. Why put someone’s name on a ballot in the first place if you’re not actually being honestly considered for selection?

Anyway, patience is required for such things. As my colleague Steve Sipple noted on Twitter, the great Rich Glover had to wait 23 after his career ended to be selected.

This year's class will have 17 inductees (14 players and three coaches): Charles Alexander (LSU, 1975-1978), Otis Armstrong (Purdue, 1970-1972), Steve Bartkowski (California, 1972-1974), Hal Bedsole (USC, 1961-1963), Dave Casper (1971-1973), Ty Detmer (BYU, 1988-1991), Tommy Kramer (Rice, 1973-1976), Art Monk (Syracuse, 1976-1979), Greg Myers (Colorado State, 1992-1995), Jonathan Ogden (UCLA, 1992-1995), Gabe Rivera (Texas Tech, 1979-1982), Mark Simoneau (Kansas State, 1996-1999), Scott Thomas (Air Force, 1982-85) and John Wooten (Colorado, 1956-1958) on the players’ side. Head coaches Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee), Jimmy Johnson (Oklahoma State, Miami) and R.C. Slocum (Texas A&M) were also inducted.

By no means am I suggesting that the members on that list do not belong in the Hall-of-Fame but the fact that Frazier wasn’t a first ballot College Football Hall of Famer, then the College Football Hall of Fame is meaningless.

That is a stupid rule. If someone deserves to be in, they need to be there. I get having a waiting time to eliminate emotion from a decision but if they have the merits to enter into the Hall-of-Fame, they need to be there regardless if someone from their school already was inducted.

Admittedly, I haven’t paid close attention to the College Football Hall-of-Fame rules and bylaws but Frazier should’ve been in a long time ago. The guy is a winner. Pure competitor and playmaker. He would've done even more if he would've stayed healthy. The tape, the accomplishments and the wins speak for themselves.

I will make the case that Frazier is the best college quarterback in history. As a Nebraska fan, I confess to a bias but here’s a guy that went 33-2 for his career, won two national titles, four conference titles, ran for 2,154 yards, threw for 3,626 yards, and scored 82 touchdowns.

If that is not Hall-of-Fame worthy, I do not know what is.

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