This is an opinion column.
The doors to the College Football Hall of Fame swung open Wednesday to welcome 22 new members.
An outstanding group of 18 former players and four coaches got the call.
Cheers to Mark Ingram, the first Alabama player elected from the Nick Saban era. A fitting reminder to the current administration of what’s possible with a functional rushing offense in the shadow of a historic failure in that category.
Still, who’s missing from this list was more disappointing than anything.
Where’s Cam Newton?
The 2010 Heisman Trophy winner, who came as close as anyone to carrying a team to a national championship, somehow fell short of the required threshold for induction.
Crazy.
No, insane.
Let’s follow the ball for a second and put this in context.
This was Newton’s first year on the ballot, while Ingram was elected in his second season, advancing to this stage.
Are first-ballot selections rare?
Well, they’re not common, but neither was Newton and his transcendent 2010 season.
A quick search found a list of relatively recent first-ballot picks.
Wisconsin running back Montee Ball got in on his first try last year. He was a two-time consensus All-American in 2011 and 2012. The 2012 Doak Walker Award winner was a great college running back.
He wasn’t Cam Newton.
This year’s class had a few first-timers get the call.
That includes Nebraska wrecking ball, Ndamukong Suh.
His 2009 season was up there with the best defensive linemen in memory. It was enough to earn an invitation to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York, where he finished fourth as Ingram won.
A great season for a Cornhusker team that finished 10-4.
Not on the level of Newton’s role for a 14-0 national champion.
Then there’s Jordan Lynch.
My apologies to the former Northern Illinois star, but this is a rough year for him to be a first-ballot quarterback selection.
His third-place finish in the 2013 Heisman voting (behind winner Jameis Winston and runner-up AJ McCarron) was the highest finish in the history of a player from the MAC.
Cam Newton, with all due respect, he was not.
The guy broke SEC quarterback rushing records with 1,473 yards and 20 touchdowns while completing 66.1% of his passes for 30 scores.
Forget the numbers, though. Anyone who witnessed the physical presence of a 6-foot-5, 250-pound athlete with a cannon arm can testify to the freakish impact he had on the 2010 season.
Auburn was 8-5 the year before Newton arrived and 8-5 the year after he left.
A perfect 14-0 with him.
How was this even a discussion?
So, what are the requirements to make the College Football Hall of Fame? The National Football Foundation’s website has a bullet-point list.
They must have been named an All-American by one of the NCAA-recognized organizations. Check.
Eligibility begins 10 seasons after the collegiate career ends. Been checked.
The third bullet is more ambiguous.
“While each nominee’s football achievements in college are of prime consideration, his post-football record as a citizen is also weighed,” it reads. “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.”
To answer the last part first, Newton graduated with his sociology degree in 2015 — the same year he was named NFL MVP while leading Carolina to the Super Bowl.
His online persona might rub some the wrong way, and nobody denies Newton marches to a beat of his own. But he’s done nothing to bring discredit to the Hall of Fame.
And in 2026, anyone still invoking the controversy over his eligibility — the one in which he was cleared by the NCAA — is embracing the vestiges of a rightfully dead model that denied star athletes their share of the financial pie they more than helped bake.
So, spare me the righteous emails.
Finally, who votes on these nominees?
After the top-vote getters in each district are sent to the National Football Foundation, the new nominees along with carryovers from previous seasons are sent to voters.
The electorate includes more than 12,000 NFF members and Hall of Famers.
“The results are compiled and provided to the Honors Court, which determines the final class members, to be used as a reference,” the NFF website reads.
The Honors Court is chaired by legend Archie Griffin and “includes an elite and geographically diverse pool of athletic administrators, NFF Hall of Famers and members of the media.”
It’s unclear where Newton’s candidacy fell short, but it did.
At least this time.
No doubt he will be elected in the years to come, or I’ll be republishing this column every January.
Do better next time.
