Biggest Snubs of 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot
The latest class of inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame was announced Friday, with 15 players and two coaches joining this prestigious group that honors the greatest contributors to the college game.
The full list of inductees can be found here.
That's a large group that gets added each year, but sometimes it's just not big enough. There are always a few names from the ballot that seem like they should have been chosen as well, and this year is no different.
Hall of Fame nominees have to meet certain lofty criteria, which for players includes having been named a first-team All-American during their college career. The names we think were missing from this year's class far exceeded the minimum requirements.
Check out our list of the biggest snubs from the 2015 Hall of Fame class, taking a stroll down college football memory lane in the process.
Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska
1 of 5
Years in college: 1998-2001
Awards won: Heisman Trophy (2001), Davey O'Brien Award (2001), Walter Camp Award (2001)
The last of Nebraska's three Heisman winners—and the only one not in the college Hall of Fame—led the Cornhuskers to their last appearance in the national title game, the 2002 Rose Bowl.
An option quarterback, Crouch ran for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns during his senior year, finishing his career with 59 rushing TDs.
That had been an FBS record for rushing scores by a quarterback until this season, when Navy's Keenan Reynolds surpassed the mark.
Crouch went 42-9 as a starter, leading Nebraska to four bowl berths under coach Frank Solich.
Though he never made it into the NFL, Crouch is deserving of induction based on his college achievements. What might be keeping him out, though, is time.
All 15 players chosen this year ended their college careers in 1998 or earlier, and Crouch and former Indiana quarterback Antwaan Randle El were the only nominees this year who played in 2000 or later.
Eric Dickerson, RB, SMU
2 of 5
Years played: 1979-82
Awards won: Southwest Conference Player of the Year (1981, 1982)
Though his name remains linked to one of the biggest scandals in college football history, what Eric Dickerson accomplished during his career was still remarkable.
His 4,450 career rushing yards—which surpassed the Southwest Conference mark established by Texas great Earl Campbell—remains the school record (previously held by Doak Walker). That included 1,617 yards and 17 touchdowns during his senior year in 1982, when he finished third in the Heisman voting behind Herschel Walker and John Elway.
Voted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1999, Dickerson's snub could be attributed to the school and era in which he played.
SMU's football team was the first program to ever receive the so-called "death penalty," shut down for the 1987 season after the NCAA found repeated violations that included paying players.
Though never officially implicated in the scandal, because his career spanned the time when the violations occurred Dickerson could be paying the price when Hall of Fame voting occurs.
Ray Lewis, LB, Miami
3 of 5
Years played: 1993-95
Awards won: None
Despite only starting for two and a half seasons, Ray Lewis remains among the career leaders in tackles at Miami. His sophomore and junior years were two of the most dominant by a college linebacker in history, leading the Big East in tackles in both 1994 and 1995 en route to being named a first-team All-American both times.
He recorded 160 tackles in 1994, second most in school history.
Lewis didn't get to play for a national championship—as most of Miami's great players did—but he did help the Hurricanes win Big East titles under two coaches. His first two seasons were coached by Dennis Erickson, who left to coach in the NFL in 1995 and was replaced by Butch Davis.
There are seven former Hurricanes in the college Hall of Fame, most recently quarterback Vinny Testaverde in 2013. Every Miami inductee who played from the 1970s until now was part of a national championship team, which could be what's keeping out Lewis.
There could also be issues with character that get in the way.
Though not stemming from his college days, Lewis' guilty plea to obstruction of justice in connection with a 2000 murder in Atlanta could weigh heavily in the minds of voters, the National Football Foundation's Honors Court.
"Essentially, these days do we want to risk a sport's hall of fame reputation on an individual's personal reputation?," CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd wrote in March, when the finalists for this year's induction were announced. "The hallowed halls of the Heisman already include an admitted counterfeiter (Billy Cannon) and O.J. (Simpson). Reggie Bush was the first player to have his Heisman vacated."
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Rashaan Salaam, RB, Colorado
4 of 5
Years played: 1992-94
Awards won: Heisman Trophy (1994), Walter Camp Award (1994), Doak Walker Award (1994)
Arguably one of the least-heralded Heisman winners of the past 30 years, there's no denying Colorado great Rashaan Salaam had one of the best individual seasons in college football history.
As a junior, Salaam ran for a school-record 2,055 yards, which at the time made him only the fourth player to top 2,000 yards in a season. He had four consecutive 200-yard games that year, and in a win over Texas he set a school record with 362 all-purpose yards.
Only a late-October loss to Nebraska kept the Buffaloes, which would go 11-1 and win the Fiesta Bowl, from playing for the national championship that season.
Salaam wasn't able to parlay his college success into a strong NFL career, playing in 33 games over five seasons.
Being a Heisman winner doesn't guarantee of Hall of Fame inclusion, but it's pretty close. And with three winners since Salaam having been inducted, including 1998 winner Ricky Williams of Texas this season, his time should be coming soon.
Warren Sapp, DT, Miami
5 of 5
Years played: 1992-94
Awards won: Lombardi Award (1994), Nagurski Award (1994)
Similar to former Miami teammate (and Hall of Fame snub) Ray Lewis, Warren Sapp played during an era when the Hurricanes were good but not as great as at other times.
There were no national championship in Sapp's three-year career, in fact Miami lost its bowl game in each of his seasons. That includes falling to Nebraska in the 1995 Orange Bowl, which was the de facto national title game that year.
But Sapp won a pair of national awards during his junior year in 1994, along with being a unanimous first-team All-American and one of the few defensive linemen to finish high in Heisman voting (he was sixth that year).
Sapp went on to have a standout career in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013, making him one of a select group of players to be in that hall but not the one for collegiate excellence.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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