Announcement made during College Football Live on ESPN; Entire Class to be Announced Wednesday
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| Former Titan Eddie George ranks among the top three in Ohio State history in rushing yards (3,768), rushing touchdowns (44) and 100-yard games (20). He also holds school records with five 200-yard outings and 12 consecutive 100-yard games. |
DALLAS - During the telecast of College Football Live on ESPN, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today that Eddie George, the star running back at Ohio State from 1992-95, will be a member of the 2011 College Football Hall of Fame Class from the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A).
The breaking news on College Football Live was made to generate excitement and interest in tomorrow's announcement of the entire class, which will be unveiled during a press conference at the NASDAQ OMX MarketSite in the heart of Times Square. Fans can watch tomorrow's announcement live at 11:30 a.m. EDT via a web stream provided by XOS Digital at www.footballfoundation.org.
Tuesday's edition of College Football Live will feature several additional inductees on its show at 3:30 p.m. EDT with ESPN studio host Rece Davis reporting from Times Square. A total of 14 players and two coaches will be included in this year's class. Click here for the names of the 79 All-America players and nine elite coaches on the ballot for consideration this year.
The 2011 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Class will be inducted at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 6, 2011, at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. They will be officially enshrined at the College Football Hall of Fame, tentatively scheduled for the summer of 2012.
EDDIE GEORGE AT OHIO STATE (1992-95)
Winner of the 1995 Heisman Trophy, Ohio State's Eddie George is the latest in the storied lineage of Buckeye ball carriers to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.
George enjoyed many successes under College Football Hall of Fame coach John Cooper at Ohio State. He helped the Buckeyes to an overall 38-9-2 record, and a 24-6-2 mark in Big Ten play, where Ohio State never finished lower than second during George's tenure. He ranks among the top three in school history in rushing yards (3,768), rushing touchdowns (44), 100-yard games (20) and holds school records with five 200-yard outings and 12 consecutive 100-yard games. As a senior, George set a single-season school record with 1,927 rushing yards en route to winning the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Doak Walker Award and Jim Brown Award while leading the nation in scoring, placing fourth in all-purpose yards and fifth in rushing yards per game and yards per carry.
The fourteenth overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers, he ranks 23rd in NFL history with 10,441 rushing yards compiled over nine seasons. He played in four Pro Bowls and was a First Team All-Pro in 2000. He holds virtually every career rushing record for the Tennessee Titans, and helped Tennessee reach Super Bowl XXXIV. George shares the title with Jim Brown as the only 10,000 yard runners in NFL history to never miss a start.
George holds many titles in his post-football career, not the least of which includes earning an MBA from Northwestern University. He is also the founder and co-owner of the EDGE Group, Eddie George's Grille 27 in Columbus, and he is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the American Society for Landscape Architects. He also serves as an on-air personality for Big Ten Network. George and his wife, Tamara, reside with their two children in Brentwood, Tenn.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
• Including the 2011 FBS class, only 896 players and 192 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly five million who have played or coached the game over the past 142 years. In other words, less than one percent (.0002) have been deemed worthy of this distinction.
• Founded in 1947, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame inducted its first class of inductees in 1951. The first class included 32 players and 19 coaches, including Illinois' Red Grange, Notre Dame's Knute Rockne, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Carlisle's Jim Thorpe.
• 284 schools are represented with at least one College Football Hall of Famer.
• Induction for this class of Hall of Famers will take place December 6, 2011 at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City's Waldorf=Astoria.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame, Play It Smart, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, the NFF Gridiron Clubs of New York City, Dallas, and Los Angeles, and annual scholarships of more than $1.3 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF presents the MacArthur Bowl, the Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.
CRITERIA
- First and foremost, a player must have received First Team All-America recognition by a selector organization that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise their consensus All-America teams.
- A player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation's Honors Courts ten years after his final year of intercollegiate football played.
- 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.
- Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years*. For example, to be eligible for the 2010 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1960 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.
- A coach becomes eligible three years after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years of age. 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*.
* Players that do not comply with the 50-year rule and coaches that have not won 60% of their games may still be eligible for consideration by the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) and Divisional Honors Review Committees, which examine unique cases.
- During the telecast of College Football Live on ESPN, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today that Eddie George, the star running back at Ohio State from 1992-95, will be a member of the 2011 College Football Hall of Fame Class from the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A).
