6/3: The 2026 NFF Hall of Fame Ballot is here!

Good in the Game 6/3

June 03, 2025

Good morning, football fans! Congratulations to Dr. Thomas Burns, Jr., a two-time Academic All-American at UVA and the 1993 recipient of the NFF Campbell Trophy ®, on being named the new President and Program Manager of the Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC).

The National Football Foundation has announced the names on the 2026 Ballot under consideration for induction into the NFF College Football Hall of Fame! The list includes 79 players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 100 players and 35 coaches from the divisional ranks.

In the latest episode of the Good in the Game Podcast, host LaVar Arrington sits down with his former head coach in the pros, the head ball coach Steve Spurrier. Coach chats about how he got into coaching, being the only living member of the College Football Hall of Fame to be inducted as a player and coach and what went wrong during his time in Washington, D.C. as head coach of the Redskins.

Join us to celebrate college football legends such as Montee Ball, Graham Harrell, Michael Strahan, Michael Vick and many, many more at one of the sport's grandest traditions — the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas — Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at the iconic Bellagio Hotel & Casino.

The highlight of the Awards Dinner will be the induction of the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame Class, where 18 legendary players and four acclaimed coaches take their place amongst the greatest of all time. The inductees proudly represent every region of the country, 28 collegiate institutions, 11 conferences, and seven decades.

The following is an excerpt from an article written by Loran Smith for the NFF, posted on May 31, 2025.

. . .

Hear ye, hear ye. I'm a little frustrated that one of the greatest stories of the Kirby Smart era just played out and not enough heads were turned, not enough overt passion and exclamation moved front and center, and the chapel bell did not ring a single time.

Brock Bowers graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in real estate from the Terry College of Business and everybody yawned. A celebration did not ensue especially when it was warranted in this day when there is so much turmoil with academics getting the back of the hand from so many high school prospects demanding lavish compensation—and could care less about a degree.  They will be great BIG ME, little team performers.

. . .

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The Pat Tillman Foundation — named in honor of the late Pat Tillman, an NFF College Football Hall of Fame inductee and the 2006 NFF Distinguished American Award recipient — announced that its volunteers contributed more than 22,000 hours of community service over the past nine months. Tillman, who starred at Arizona State and later played in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals, was tragically killed in action during a 2004 tour of duty in Afghanistan while serving in the U.S. Army. Inspired by his unwavering commitment to service and leadership, the Foundation has awarded more than $37 million in scholarships since its inception in 2009.

NFF chapters continue with a busy slate of events across the country, celebrating the best scholar-athletes from their respective regions. Collectively, the network will award more than $1 million in local scholarships this year while recognizing 3,500 high school and college student-athletes. Spanning 120 chapters in 47 states, the NFF Chapter Network serves as the heartbeat of a nationwide effort to promote amateur football and instill leadership, sportsmanship, and academic excellence among young players. The movement traces back to 1954, when the Cincinnati Club first discussed forming NFF chapters. Today, more than 12,000 passionate members continue that legacy, dedicated to Building Leaders Through Football. Together, they host more than 300 events annually, reaching 500,000 football players at 5,000 high schools.

Upper Left: The NFF Memphis Chapter drew a strong crowd April 21 to honor 12 high school scholar-athletes, along with honorees from Rhodes College and the University of Memphis. The chapter serves 22 counties across West Tennessee and Northern Mississippi.

Upper Right (Middle & Far Right): The NFF Joe Yukica/New Hampshire Chapter celebrated 33 scholar-athletes on May 28. Among them was Concord High School’s Coby Nyhan, a quarterback and free safety who will attend Bryant University. New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte delivered the keynote and posed with Nyhan at the event.

Lower Right: The NFF Hawaii Chapter continues to champion girls' participation in football, supporting the 808 Senior P.R.O. Bowl Girls Flag Football Showcase on Oʻahu.

Lower Left: James Johnson, a two-way lineman at Homestead High School (FL), was honored May 22 by the NFF Miami Touchdown Club Chapter as its Team of Distinction honoree. He will play at Florida A&M. Johnson is pictured with Head Coach Ronnie Thornton, school staff, and chapter board members Derrick Lester, Tom Evans, and President Jeff Schneider.

Less than a week after the more well-known NFL Draft concluded, another draft commenced, with FOX, NBC, CBS and the Big Ten Network creating war rooms out of conference rooms across the country to select the 2025 college football television slate.

Kebreyun Page, who played linebacker at Rice from 2018-20, has passed away. He was 26.

Alex Foster, a redshirt freshman defensive lineman at Baylor, has passed away. He was 18.

Leonard St. Jean, who played defensive end at Northern Michigan before spending a long professional career with the Boston/New England Patriots of the AFL and NFL, has passed away. He was 83.

Ralph Heck, who played collegiately at Colorado before spending nine seasons in the NFL with Philadelphia, Atlanta and the New York Giants, has passed away. He was 83.

Travis Pride, who played defensive back at Colorado Mesa University before becoming the head football coach and athletics director at Trophy Club Byron Nelson HS (TX), passed away unexpectedly. He was 56.

Phil Robertson, a quarterback at Louisiana Tech from 1965-67 who went on to star in the Duck Dynasty television series, has passed away. He was 79.

Name: Brian Kelly
High School: Norwood HS (Mass.)
College: University of Mass-Dartmouth
Now: Managing Consultant, Human Capital HR Consulting

Share your football story with us! We want to know what football means to you, the lessons you learned, and the opportunities it provided.

June 17 — NFF Team of Distinction announced

July 24-26 — Campbell Trophy Summit at Stanford University

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