10 SEC stars bound for the CFHF {CAM NEWTON}

[aubiefifty 18,260]

al.com

10 SEC stars bound for the College Football Hall of Fame

Updated: Jun. 07, 2024, 8:10 a.m.|Published: Jun. 07, 2024, 8:00 a.m.

6–8 minutes

The ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 included former LSU and Alabama coach Nick Saban. Nominated for the honor for the first class after his retirement, Saban seems like a lock to be enshrined with the next group of Hall of Famers.

The ballot also featured 15 players who were SEC stars, and one of them also appears to be sure to end up in the College Football Hall of Fame – maybe not this year, but certainly eventually.

Alabama running back Mark Ingram also was a quick candidate for enshrinement. Players aren’t eligible while playing professionally. Ingram didn’t play in the 2023 season after 12 NFL campaigns and made a beeline for the ballot.

11 SEC stars who’ll never make the College Football Hall of Fame

SEC’s College Football Hall of Fame backlog continues to grow

Alabama goes 2-of-39 on College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 ballot

What makes Ingram, along with LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. and seven other former SEC stars, sure-fire future members of the College Football Hall of Fame?

Their places in history.

Heisman Trophy winners

Ingram won the Heisman Trophy in 2009. That stamped his ticket to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Every Heisman Trophy winner from 1935 through 2002 has been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame, and three players from beyond that block already are in – 2004 winner Matt Leinart, 2005 winner Reggie Bush and 2007 winner Tim Tebow.

A Florida standout, Tebow joins Auburn’s Pat Sullivan and Bo Jackson, Florida’s Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel, Georgia’s Frank Sinkwich and Herschel Walker and LSU’s Billy Cannon as the SEC’s Heisman Trophy winners in the College Football Hall of Fame.

The conference’s Heisman Trophy winners awaiting enshrinement are:

· Alabama running back Mark Ingram, 2009

· Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, 2010

· Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, 2012

· Alabama running back Derrick Henry, 2015

· LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, 2019

· Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith, 2020

· Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, 2021

· LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, 2023

Two-time unanimous All-Americans

Anderson isn’t eligible for consideration for the College Football Hall of Fame yet. Ten seasons haven’t passed since his final college game, and he’s playing professionally, preparing for his second season with the Houston Texans after winning the AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award for 2023.

But Anderson’s credentials for the College Football Hall of Fame include his status as a two-time unanimous All-American. There have been 39 of those, plus the only three-time unanimous All-American – Georgia running back Herschel Walker. Walker is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame as are the SEC’s other two two-time unanimous All-Americans – Tennessee safety Eric Berry and LSU running back Billy Cannon.

Of the 34 other two-time unanimous All-Americans who are eligible, 32 have been enshrined. The exceptions are Michigan defensive back Tripp Welborne and Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon.

Big three award winners

Since 1967 when the Walter Camp Football Foundation presented its first Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, college football has had three major player-of-the-year awards. The Heisman Trophy has been presented annually since 1935, and the Maxwell Award was presented for the first time in 1937.

The first 17 players to win those three awards in the same season are in the College Football Hall of Fame. That list includes former SEC stars Herschel Walker of Georgia and Danny Wuerffel of Florida. Walker won the three awards in 1982, and Wuerffel did so in 1996.

The other SEC players who have the big three player-of-year awards on their College Football Hall of Fame credentials include:

· Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, 2010

· Alabama running back Derrick Henry, 2015

· LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, 2019

· Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith, 2020

Maxwell Award winners

Is the Maxwell Award as true a barometer as the Heisman Trophy for membership in the College Football Hall of Fame? It’s pretty good, but it comes with a caveat the Heisman hasn’t required.

The first requirement for the College Football Hall of Fame is for a player to have been named as a first-team All-American by at least one of the selectors used by the NCAA to compile the consensus All-American squad.

Of the 24 Maxwell Award winners in this century, 12 did not win the Heisman Trophy. Three of those Maxwell winners aren’t eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame because they were not first-team All-American choices by a consensus selector. Those Maxwell winners who can’t be enshrined are Purdue quarterback Drew Brees from 2000, Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning from 2003 and Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn from 2006.

Of the first 25 players who received the Maxwell but didn’t win the Heisman, 23 are in the College Football Hall of Fame. The exceptions are Temple QB Steve Joachim in 1974 and Penn State QB Chuck Fusina in 1978. Both exceptions are eligible for the College Football of Fame, and Fusina was the consensus All-American QB in 1978.

Of the nine Maxwell Award winners who didn’t also get the Heisman Trophy in the 21st century and were qualifying first-team All-Americans, three are still playing professionally or have played in college in the past 10 seasons, so they can’t be considered for the College Football Hall of Fame yet.

Of the remaining six, one already is in the College Football Hall of Fame – Texas quarterback Vince Young, the 2005 Maxwell winners.

Among the Maxwell/non-Heisman players waiting for their time to come are Alabama quarterbacks AJ McCarron and Tua Tagovailoa. McCarron won the Maxwell in 2013, and Tagovailoa won in 2018. Each player was the runner-up for the Heisman in those seasons.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.