College Football Hall of Fame side
entrance.
Blocking activity cage.
The
College Football Hall of Fame, located in South Bend,
Indiana
, USA, is a hall of fame
and museum devoted to college
football. It is situated in the renovated downtown
district, near convention centers and not far from the campus of
Notre
Dame
. It is slated to move to Atlanta, GA
in the near future, after its lease expires at its
current facility on December 31, 2010.
The College Football Hall of Fame was established in 1951 by the
National Football
Foundation (NFF), which oversees the support, administration
and operation of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Building
The current building was constructed in 1995. Sam Jones of The
Troyer Group was the lead architect and a graduate of Notre Dame.
The museum hall, located on the underground level, features
memorials and memorabilia of great
American football players and coaches of
the past. A 14-minute video in the museum's Stadium Theater
highlights the "thrills and pageantry" of college football.
Interactive areas allow visitors to test their own speed,
agility, and
punt,
pass and
block skills. Video
monitors replay historical games and plays. Busts of coaches and
players enshrined in the Hall of Fame are located throughout the
museum. The entrance-level floor features a gift shop and
restaurant, as well as murals featuring hall-of-famers and
significant moments in the history of college football. The
exterior of the building features a
artificial turf space, named the Gridiron
Plaza, that can be rented to host outdoor events.
Prior to
moving to its current location, the College Football Hall of Fame
was located adjacent to Kings Island
in Kings Mills, Ohio
, near Cincinnati
.
Future
Despite estimates that the South Bend location would attract more
than 150,000 visitors a year, the Hall of Fame drew about 115,000
people the first year (1995) and about 60,000 annually after that.
As a
result, in September 2009, the Hall of Fame announced it would be
moving to Atlanta,
GA. The possibility of moving the museum has been
brought up in other cities, including Dallas, TX
— which had the financial backing of billionaire
T. Boone Pickens.
The museum will be
located near Centennial Olympic Park
near other attractions such as the Georgia
Aquarium
, the
World of
Coca-Cola
, CNN
Center
and the anticipated Center for Human and Civil
Rights. Plans for a health museum also have been
announced.
Original plans called for the Hall of Fame to be located at Rutgers
University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, location of the first
contest under rules now considered to be those of modern football,
between Rutgers and Princeton University (won by Rutgers, 6-4).
Rutgers donated land near its football stadium, office space,
administrative support, etc. After years of collecting donations
for the construction of the building with ground not having been
broken and no plans to do so, the New Jersey Attorney General began
an investigation of the finances of the Hall of Fame
Foundation.
In response the Foundation moved its operations to New York City
where it continued to collect donations for several years with
nothing to show for it. When the New York Attorney General's Office
began its own investigation the foundation moved to Ohio, where a
building finally was constructed.
By the numbers
, there are 829 players enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame, representing 186 institutions. Additionally, 178 coaches have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The following institutions have had the greatest number of players
inducted:
Criteria for induction
The National Football Foundation outlines specific criteria that
may be used for evaluating a possible candidate for induction into
the Hall of Fame. NFF members and the coaches, athletic directors,
and sports information officials representing member schools may
submit nominations for consideration. Nominees with the highest
votes received from one of the eight District Screening Committees
(DSC) located closest to the nominee's college or university are
included on that year's ballot, which is distributed to all NFF
dues-paying members. The selection of Hall of Fame inductees,
however, ultimately is determined by the Foundation's Honor
Court.
Criteria for player nominees
- The nominee must have been selected to the first team of one or
more major college football All-America
teams.
- The nomination must be submitted no earlier than ten years
since the last year the nominee played intercollegiate
football.
- The nominee must exhibit demonstrated citizenship, "carrying
the ideals of football forward into his relations with his
community and his fellow man with love of his country." Academic
honors may also be considered.
- The nominee must have played intercollegiate football no more
than fifty years ago (although exceptions may be granted after
review by the appropriate NFF committees).
- The nominee must have ended his professional athletic career
prior to the time of the nomination.
Criteria for coach nominees
- The nominee must exhibit demonstrated citizenship, "carrying
the ideals of football forward into his relations with his
community and his fellow man with love of his country."
- The nominee must fit one of the following criteria:
- Be retired from coaching for at least three years
- Be at least 70 years old and retired
- Be at least 75 years old
- The nominee must have held a head coaching position at the
collegiate level for at least ten years.
- The nominee must hold at least a .600 career record over the
course of 100 games or more.
See also
References
- Hall moving from South Bend to Atlanta,
Associated Press, September 23, 2009, Accessed September 23,
2009.
- "College Football Hall of Fame: Tour the Hall."
National Football Foundation.
- "College Football Hall of Fame: Procedure Guide and
Criteria." National Football Foundation.
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