COLLEGE HOF: Croom, Alexander among '22 nominees

Sylvester Croom (59) was among the nominees for the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame. (Courtesy Paul Bryant Museum)

By TIM GAYLE

Former Alabama stars Shaun Alexander and Sylvester Croom, along with former Troy coach Larry Blakeney, are on the 2022 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. 

The list includes 78 players and seven coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 99 players and 33 coaches from the divisional ranks. 

“It’s an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.47 million people have played college football and only 1,038 players have been inducted,” said National Football Foundation president & CEO Steve Hatchell, whose organization oversees the College Football Hall of Fame. “The Hall’s requirement of being a first-team All-American creates a much smaller pool of about 1,500 individuals who are even eligible. Being in today’s elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to have ever played the game and we look forward to announcing the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class early next year.” 

The 2022 College Football Hall of Fame class will be officially inducted during the 64th NFF annual awards dinner on Dec. 6, 2022 and permanently immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

Alexander was the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in 1999 after leading the Crimson Tide to the championship with a rout of Florida in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. A 1999 All-American, he led the conference rushing (1,383), scoring (144 points) and touchdowns (24) his senior season and finished his career with the most rushing yards (3,565) and rushing touchdowns (41) in school history. He went on to earn NFL most valuable player honors with the Seattle Seahawks. The Football Writers Association of America named its top freshman award in his honor.  

Croom was an All-American center in 1974 who led the Crimson Tide to the 1973 national championship as a junior. He helped Alabama to three consecutive Southeastern Conference championships (1972-73-74) while losing only one regular season game --- the famous loss to Auburn in 1972 -- in his career. He was honored with the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the SEC’s top performer in 1974. After a year with the New Orleans Saints, he became a valuable assistant under Paul “Bear” Bryant (1976-82) and Ray Perkins (1983-86) before joining Perkins with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That launched a 25-year career as an NFL assistant, interrupted in 2004-08 with a head coaching stint at Mississippi State, becoming the conference’s first African-American head football coach. He earned SEC Coach of the Year honors in 2007.

Blakeney (1991-2014) is the all-time winningest coach in Sun Belt Conference history who led the Trojans to five Sun Belt and three Southland titles, along with seven FCS playoff appearances in eight seasons and four FBS bowl games. Two of his players, defensive lineman Al Lucas (winner of the 1999 Buck Buchanan Award) and defensive back Freddie Thomas (who led Troy to a Division II national championship in 1987) are up for Hall of Fame consideration at the divisional level.

Blakeney is one of three coaches on the ballot with ties to this region. Gary Pinkel, who coached at Toledo and Missouri, is on the ballot along with Central Michigan coach Roy Kramer, who coached his team to a Division II national championship in 1974 but is better known for his later contributions as a commissioner for the Southeastern Conference. 

In addition to Alexander and Croom, 11 former Southeastern Conference stars are on the 2022 ballot, including three players from Tennessee, two each from Florida, Georgia and LSU and one from Arkansas and Kentucky.

The Tennessee players include Larry Seivers, an All-American wide receiver in 1975 and 1976 who currently ranks sixth in Vol reception yards and seventh in receptions; Willie Gault, a wide receiver and kick returner who set six conference and 12 school return records on the way to All-American honors in 1982; and Eric Berry, a unanimous All-American selection in 2008 and 2009 who won SEC Defensive Player of the Year (2008) and Thorpe Award (2009) honors and is the conference’s all-time leader in career interception return yards (494) and single-season interception return yards (265 in 2008). 

The Florida nominees include Errict Rhett, a 1993 All-American who is the first player in FBS history to rush for more than 4,100 yards and catch more than 140 passes in a career, and defensive tackle Brad Culpepper, a 1991 All-American and recipient of the NFF Campbell Trophy as the nation’s top scholar-athlete who led the Gators to their first-ever SEC title in 1991.

The LSU nominees include running back Kevin Faulk, a 1996 All-American who ranks fourth in NCAA history with 6,833 all-purpose yards and is the first LSU back to average 100 yards per game during his entire career, and 2002 All-American linebacker Bradie James, an NFF scholar-athlete who was a three-time all-conference selection and ranks second in school history with 418 career tackles.  

The Georgia players on the 2022 ballot include 1992 All-American running back Garrison Hearst, the Doak Walker Award winner who finished third in Heisman voting after leading the nation in scoring (126 points) and earning 1992 SEC Player of the Year honors, and 1998 All-American defensive back  Champ Bailey who earned the Bronko Nagurski Award and was a two-time all-SEC selection after recording more than 1,000 plays during the 1998 season by playing defensive back, receiver and return specialist for the Bulldogs. 

The two other conference nominees are Arkansas guard Brandon Burlsworth, a former walk-on who started 34 consecutive games in earning 1998 All-American honors and leading the Razorbacks to SEC West Division titles in 1995 and 1998, and Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch, a consensus first-team All-American selection in 1998 who finished fourth in Heisman voting in 1998 and ninth in 1997. Couch set seven NCAA, 14 SEC and 26 school records and earned 1998 SEC Player of the Year honors. 

A trio of other players from Southeastern Conference schools who played in other conferences are also on the ballot for consideration, including Texas A&M cornerback Kevin Smith, a consensus All-American in 1991 on a Southwest Conference defense that led the nation in total defense; Arkansas defensive tackle Dan Hampton, a 1978 All-American and two-time all-Southwest Conference selection; and Missouri receiver and return specialist Jeremy Maclin, a 2007 All-American who set Big 12 records for all-purpose yards in his first two seasons with the Tigers. 

The ballot includes some familiar names from other schools as well, such as Michigan State placekicker Morten Andersen, a contributor in Montgomery’s Blue-Gray All Star Football Classic; USC tailback Reggie Bush, Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree, Florida State tailback Warrick Dunn, California tight end Tony Gonzalez, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and North Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers. 

In addition to the requirement of All-America status, a player isn’t eligible for consideration until 10 full seasons after his final season and must have played within the last 50 years (1972-2011). Players who are playing professionally or coaches at the professional level are not eligible until they retire. A coach is not eligible until three years after the completion of his final collegiate season (or immediately upon completion if he is 70 years of age). 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. Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether the candidate earned a college degree.