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National Football Foundation

College Football Hall of Fame



Click here for a list of College Football Hall of Famers inducted from 1951-2017.

Click here for the release announcing the 2018 College Football Hall of Fame Class.

• The College Football Hall of Fame was established in 1951

• The new College Football Hall of Fame, which opened on Aug. 23, 2014, is a 94,256-square-foot attraction located in the heart of Atlanta's sports, entertainment and tourism district.

• More than 5.26 million student-athletes have played college football since the first game on Nov. 6, 1869

• Including the 2018 inductees, only 997 players and 217 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.26 million who have played or coached the game over the past 149 years.

• First class of inductees included notables Red Grange (Illinois), George Gipp (Notre Dame), Knute Rockne (Notre Dame), Amos Alonzo Stagg (four schools) and Jim Thorpe (Carlisle)

• 308 schools are represented with at least one College Football Hall of Famer

Visit the Hall in Atlanta


The College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience opened its doors in Atlanta on Aug. 23, 2014. Redefining the concept of a traditional museum with cutting-edge technology, the building has drawn universal praise for creating a venue that rises to the occasion of paying tribute to the game’s greatest legends while engaging fans with a unique range of compelling exhibits.

“We knew that downtown Atlanta offered the perfect setting for the new Hall, and the city, as well as people from all over the country, have embraced our new home in Atlanta as a major epicenter for college football,” said Archie Manning, the chairman of the NFF, which launched the Hall in 1951 and partnered with the city of Atlanta to raise the money and open the new Hall in 2014. “We knew we had something special in the proposal and planning stages, and it has been even better in reality."

The Hall, built at a cost of approximately $68.5 million, measures 94,256 square feet, including 50,000 square feet of exhibit space and a 45-yard indoor football field. The attraction offers a total “Fan Experience” matching traditional, museum-quality memorabilia with interactive, multimedia exhibits that invite fans and visitors to engage with their favorite college football team or Hall of Famer.

Fans are given an RFID-enabled All-Access Pass as they enter the building and are immediately greeted by the three-story helmet wall representing all 778 U.S. colleges and universities with football teams. When fans register their RFID All-Access Pass, their school’s helmet actually lights up. As fans explore the rest of the building, the RFID badge continues to pull and display information about their school throughout their tour.

The Hall has been a prime space for private events in Atlanta, hosting more than 250 in its first year of operation. In 2015, it agreed to a new multi-year agreement with ESPN to become the setting for The Home Depot College Football Awards, which airs annually after the college football season. Visit www.cfbhall.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, Presented by Fidelity Investments



The NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, which began with the inaugural class in 1951, have become a hallowed tradition, and to this day the singular events remain the first of numerous activities in each inductee’s Hall of Fame experience. During the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, each inductee returns to his alma mater to accept a Hall of Fame plaque that will remain on permanent display at the institution. The events take place on the field during a home game, and many inductees cite the experience as the ultimate capstone to their careers, providing them one more chance to take the field and hear the crowd roar their name.

The 2017 season marks the eighth season that Fidelity Investments will serve as the national presenting sponsor of the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes. The salutes are one component of a multi-year initiative between the two organizations to celebrate the scholar-athlete ideal and a joint commitment to higher education.

Hall of Fame Process



See below for Hall of Fame criteria. For more information on nominating for the College Football Hall of Fame, please contact Hillary Jeffries. 


Hall of Fame Criteria:
  1. FIRST AND FOREMOST, A PLAYER MUST HAVE RECEIVED FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICA RECOGNITION BY A SELECTOR RECOGNIZED BY THE NCAA AND UTILIZED TO COMPRISE THEIR CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA TEAMS.
  2. A player becomes eligible for consideration by the NFF's Honors Court 10 years after his last year of intercollegiate football played.
  3. While each nominee's football achievements in college are of prime consideration, his post-football record as a citizen is also weighed. He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community and fellow man. Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether or not the candidate earned a college degree.
  4. Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years*. For example, to be eligible for the 2019 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1969 or thereafter. In addition, players who are playing professionally and coaches who are coaching on the professional level are not eligible until after they retire.
  5. A coach becomes eligible three years after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years old. Active coaches become eligible at 75 years of age. He must have been a head coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage.


Voting Procedure:
  1. NOMINATIONS MAY BE MADE ONLY BY A DUES-PAYING MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION OR BY ATHLETICS DIRECTORS, COACHES OR CoSIDA MEMBERS REPRESENTING DUES-PAYING COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES.
  2. Statistics, newspaper/magazine clippings, records and personal recommendations by coaches, fellow players and opponents are all considered.
  3. The National Football Foundation staff will screen each candidate. After ascertaining that the nomination satisfies all requirements, the nominee is submitted to the District Screening Committee (DSC) nearest to the institution where the nominee played. New nominees as well as individuals who appeared on the previous year's ballot will be included in this process.
  4. Only the top vote-getters (approx. 60 players) from the DSC are forwarded to The National Football Foundation staff for inclusion on the ballot. The ballot also carries names of candidates held over from the previous year. These carryover names are referred to as "automatic holdovers" and are decided upon by the Honors Court. Thus, please keep in mind that even though your player is nominated, his name WILL NOT appear on the national ballot if he does not first pass through the DSC.
  5. The ballot of players and coaches is mailed to all dues-paying members of The National Football Foundation for a member vote. The results are compiled and provided to the Honors Court, which determines the final class members, to be used as a reference.
  6. Any candidate not selected to the current year's Hall of Fame class will automatically go through the voting procedures again the following year. There is no need to nominate the candidate again.

* Those players that do not comply with the 50-year rule may still be eligible for consideration by the FBS and Divisional Veterans Committees, which examine unique cases.

National Hall of Fame Salute at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl


After officially being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame during the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York, members of the latest Class travel to Atlanta to take part in the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Entering its 14th year overall in 2018 and the fourth at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the event utilizes the bowl to showcase members of the Hall of Fame class during the game. Prior to the game, a multi-day celebration for the inductees takes place in Atlanta, including several unique events and a special public ceremony at the College Football Hall of Fame where the inductees will see their legendary accomplishments permanently immortalized for the first time.


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