College Football: Ex-Nebraska QB Tommie Frazier Deserves to Be a Hall of Famer

Griping about Hall of Fame picks is a messy business.  The National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame have hundreds of players to mull over before even shortening the list to the actual inductees.  This year, however, they made a distinctive mistake.

Where is ex-Husker QB Tommie Frazier? 

All he did was guide Nebraska to a 33-3 record in games he started over his four-year career.  His overall stats aren't gaudy (50% completion rating, 3,521 yards passing, 43 TDs, 11 INTs to go along with 1,955 rushing yards and 36 TDs), but no one can argue the fact that he was one of the best leaders and made the triple option look as pretty as ballet.

Oh, and he was at the helm for two consecutive national championships in 1994 and 1995 and was the Heisman runner-up in '95.

People too often get caught up in stats.  Tommie Frazier wasn't a stat-line warrior, but was the most pivotal cog in a Big Red machine that most view as the greatest college football team of all time.

Frazier fought through life-threatening blood clots to become one of the best and most successful college quarterbacks of all time.  He led his Huskers (and they were his team) with an unmatched poise and never proved to be an off-field distraction.  Frazier simply went to work every Saturday and was better than anyone at what he did.

And who can forget "the run?" Frazier seemingly ran through every Florida defender, on the way to a second consecutive national title in 1995.  The dismantling of the Gators was done with such cool precision that it seemed the perfect ending to one of the best college careers of any quarterback.

The accolades for Frazier reach far beyond Lincoln and Husker Nation.  He was named to Sports Illustrated's All-Century Team as the backup QB.  The starter? Sammy Baugh.

CollegeFootballNews.com names Frazier the No. 33 player on their list of 100 Greatest College Football Players of All-Time.

When asked about the snub, Frazier was a class-act as usual, stating that he was honored to even appear on the list and that he wasn't really following the process.

Touchdown Tommie Frazier will one day be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.  And most, not just Husker fans, will recognize him as one of the best to ever play the game.