No College Football Hall of Fame eligibility for Stetson Bennett? A prerequisite needs tweaking for him and others

Credit: Online Athens

If nothing changes, you’ll never see Stetson Bennett IV even show up on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame.

As in, the dude who just led Georgia to consecutive College Football Playoff National Championships and became just the 3rd quarterback to repeat this century and the 4th quarterback to do that in the last 4 decades. The man who has not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 offensive MVP awards in Playoff games can never even get a seat at the table to have his College Football Hall of Fame eligibility considered.

Why? This is the very first rule of College Football Hall of Fame eligibility:

“First and foremost, a player must have received First Team All-America recognition by a selector organization that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise their consensus All-America teams.”

In Bennett’s 46 years in college (give or take), he was never named a first-team All-American. At least he wasn’t by any sort of organization that’s recognized by the NCAA that’s used to comprise consensus All-America teams. Mind you, those are all decided before the postseason begins. As in, before Bennett had a 6-touchdown performance in the most lopsided Playoff/BCS game ever, which helped Georgia clinch its 2nd consecutive national title.

In some ways, that makes sense, especially in this era. We’ve now got coaches leaving before bowl games, as well as opt-outs and transfers that can impact a player’s postseason performance, which could ultimately impact their credentials for first-team All-America status. In other ways, though, it’s silly to think that a player who accomplished what Bennett just did in the postseason won’t have that factor into his résumé for earning All-America honors.

But tweaking that would depend on those organizations all getting on the same page and changing that, which doesn’t feel likely.

There’s a different tweak that needs to be made which would have a much more direct impact on the Hall of Fame ballot process. Instead of limiting it just to first-team All-Americans, the NFF should add in the caveat that states “OR if a player was invited to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.”

Simple. Sort of.

It’s simple in that you’re still upholding the prestige of the “.02%” (that’s the percentage of players who earn enshrinement). Getting to New York is a massive challenge, and it’s not as if adding that caveat would open the floodgates for hundreds of other candidates to suddenly be eligible. It would open the door for someone like Bennett, who earned a trip to New York, though not without controversy.

While Bennett had his skeptics — many from Tennessee — for making it to New York, what many failed to acknowledge was that against teams that were in the AP Top 25 heading into the postseason, he had a quarterback rating of 185.27. That was 6th among all Playoff-era quarterbacks (min. 4 games). And again, that was before he led the Ohio State comeback (189.2 QB rating) and the TCU rout (226.9 QB rating).

Bennett is the reason the rule needs tweaking. You cannot tell the story of college football without him. And for everyone who thinks he was just AJ McCarron or Greg McElroy, Bennett had more games with a quarterback rating of 180.0 against AP Top 25 teams in his last 2 seasons (8 of 11 opportunities) than those 2 Alabama quarterbacks combined in their last 2 seasons (7 of 25 opportunities). The irony is that McCarron actually earned AFCA first-team All-America honors in 2013 and he’ll be eligible to appear on the HOF ballot.

If your response is “well, why change the rule just for Bennett?” tell me this: How many players in college football history have a postseason résumé as good as Bennett’s? There’s certainly nobody in the Playoff era. Even a great like Deshaun Watson never had a single Playoff game with a quarterback rating better than 160.0 (add in the rushing and Bennett still had more total touchdowns than Watson).

But this isn’t about Bennett vs. Watson. Besides, Watson will be eligible as a former first-team All-American. Watson’s off-field conduct will be debated by virtue of the 3rd Hall of Fame prerequisite, which states “his post-football record as a citizen is also weighed. He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community and fellow man.”

Barring some sort of future issue, that won’t be an issue for Bennett, despite his low wave count at Georgia’s victory parade.

The reality is that it took someone like Bennett to magnify how silly it is that the Heisman voting has no bearing on the Hall of Fame, and that it doesn’t factor in any postseason performance. He’s not alone in this odd Hall of Fame exclusion, either.

Take Drew Brees. The former Purdue quarterback finished 3rd in the 2000 Heisman Trophy voting. But that year, fellow quarterbacks Josh Heupel and Chris Weinke finished ahead of him in the voting and they swept all of the NCAA-recognized first-team All-America honors.

Oh. My bad. Georgia Tech quarterback George Godsey somehow earned Pro Football Weekly’s All-America honor.

That meant Brees, who had the Big Ten’s 3 most prolific passing seasons ever by the time his college career was finished, was never even eligible to earn a spot on the ballot to have his credentials debated.

The same was true of Eli Manning, who finished 3rd in the 2003 Heisman Trophy voting but was behind Oklahoma quarterback Jason White on all of the NCAA’s recognized first-team All-America squads. Manning won the Maxwell Award as the best player in college football, yet by virtue of the “first-team All-America” caveat, his candidacy was non-existent.

That’s just strange.

It’s not strange that there’s a pretty hard and fast prerequisite for eligibility. You have to narrow the field in a sport with thousands of new candidates every year. It makes sense to draw the line in the sand somewhere, even if it means there are some odd snubs like Nick Chubb and Ken Stabler, neither of whom ever finished in the top 10 of the Heisman voting and are ineligible because they didn’t make an NCAA-recognized first-team All-America squad.

But adding the Heisman invitee caveat feels long overdue. Maybe there wasn’t a serious push to tweak the prerequisites for Brees or Manning because they were 2 of the most decorated pro quarterbacks of the 21st century. They’ll likely hear their names called in Canton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday, which is considered the ultimate individual football accomplishment.

For Bennett, though, it’s not crazy to suggest that his best football moment is probably in the rearview mirror. And if it is, that shouldn’t somehow take away from what he meant to the sport. Tommie Frazier never sniffed the NFL, but you can’t tell the story of college football in the 20th century without him. Hence, why he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013 (it surprisingly took him 7 years after he became eligible).

Frazier at least had his résumé debated (the NFF, as well as athletics directors, coaches and members of CoSIDA have the final vote). If nothing changes, Bennett won’t even get that opportunity. We don’t even know if Bennett would have enough support to earn enshrinement. Say what you want about him. The guy at least deserves a chance at some college football immortality.

Well, let’s rephrase that. Bennett deserves a chance at some individual college football immortality. Lord knows he delivered Georgia more college football immortality than anyone could’ve ever imagined.

See, it’s not that hard to make a tweak.

View Comments

    • Oh, he absolutely does. No player doesn't strive to be their best and be recognized, prove the doubters wrong.

    • I think he wouldn't care if he was elected. I think like rxmaster says, players, at least the great ones, don't bask in the adulation, they bask in the doubt. Michael Jordan remembers the name of the player that bumped him off of the varsity roster in high school. If you listen to Stetson's victory parade speech, you get the feeling that he heard the minority of fans who doubted him and not the majority that supported and praised him.

    • I don’t think it bothers him right now. However, there will be a day he does if they don’t sort this out. Stetson did what every football player tries to do and is the greatest walk on ever. Somehow, the HOF is going to find a way to tell his story.

    • mrtruth...Agreed. Stetson Bennett IV has accomplished more than he ever dreamed he could on a football field. In today's world of now/now/now some feel that rules should be changed for individual persons. I disagree with that premise. The criteria for admittance into the College Football Hall of Fame were not created for one(1) particular person and their feats on a football field. Those rules should be adhered to.

  • He may not. He may one day though. I dont think I have ever paid any attention to it myself, as a fan, but maybe I will one day. I dont even know where it is. But it would seem pretty reasonable to have something in place that gives a kid with his accomplishments a way to get in. Maybe a special "walk-on" section or something. I hate the deformed dogs as a rival but I respect what he did.

    • Understood Fuzzy. And don't forget you'll always have your midseason national championship of 2022 to hang your hat on. So when y'all are calling for Heupel's head in zero minus 2.5 seasons, you can remember that.

    • What’s the deal with all the hillbillies camping out on UGA articles, particularly Stetson Bennett articles?????

      It’s like Tennessee is relevant, or, has been some other than a sh*tshow for the last 20 years.

      Did getting lucky against Bama, becoming a 15-minute media darling, ranked #1 and a popular pick over UGA, only to get dirt stomped by UGA – then – screaming fanatically that UT was the best 1-loss team and deserving of a CFP slot only to get run through a woodchipper by USCar – was that the onset of some type of psychosis?????

      Can we rename that river that runs through Knoxville and by that dumpy, rickety, cow field old stadium to The Denial River …

    • “deformed dawgs” is that supposed to be funny or taken as some type of slight or insult to UGA fans?

      quip: a witty remark
      comical: causing or meant to cause laughter
      wit: mental sharpness and inventiveness; keen intelligence.
      funny: causing laughter or amusement; humorous.
      caricature: a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.
      snarky: critical or mocking in an indirect or sarcastic way

      • It's taken from the PETA comment about UGA being a deformed dog.

        Fuzzy's comment got a chuckle out of me!

        Go DAWGS!

    • Is it really a rivalry? I mean after 6 in a row and an easy beatdown in the Vols best season since...

      1998

        • The UGA/UT game is an annual series, it’s not a rivalry. UGA and UT currently play every year per the SEC Division alignment.

          Three decades ago or so UT was one of the top teams in the SEC and UT had UGA’s number, for a few, short years. Even then most of the UGA fanbase did not consider UT a rivalry.

          UGA’s long time rivals are GT, AU and UF. GT is the intrastate rival, UGA/AU is the oldest rivalry in the deep South with a really neat series history and UF is the WLOTCP. Most UGA fans would count Clemson as a rival before UT. UT is no more a rival that UK, USCar, Vandy or Mizzou.

          UGA’s current near-peer, competitive rivalries are Alabama, LSU and the aforementioned Clemson. UT is not even close to being a near-peer, competitive rival.

          Go chase Alabama and Vandy. Geez, UT finally beat Bama after 150 years, one would think the hillbillies would be haranguing Bama and not the team that owns them.

        • ALabama is not your rival lmao. They own you and Kirby Smart.

          And a Georgia fan trying to defend another delusional Georgia fan.

          Typical.

          Also, i'm not reading your incoherent, mindless drivel about TN being rent free in GA fans head.

        • Remember when Bama beat Georgia 15 times straight? Weah, neither does anyone else. Incidentally, if Bama owned Kirby via their 7 game win streak, what does Kirby's streak say about Tennessee.

          Look man, the Vols are a midlevel SEC program. That's really all there is to it. You'll get one on a rival from timr to time, but long losing streaks are just the norm. Keep working and you'll ascend to Georgia's level............when Mark Richt was coaching. Course he did win the SEC a few times.

      • “Is it really a rivalry? I mean after 6 in a row and an easy beatdown in the Vols best season since…“

        I feel the same about Basketball and Baseball. I mean really no rivalry in those sports…

        • And yet Georgia has a CWS Title and a Final 4 Apearance. The last time the Vols sniffed a CWS Title (made a final, they never won lol), Dwight Eisenhower was trying to decide which party he would run for President with.

          Dwight
          Freaking
          Eisenhower

          But sure...great Basketball and Baseball school lol. Women's basketball maybe

        • And still have made it farther in the Basketball tournemant than the Basketball powerhouse that is the Vols.

  • Related but a little off topic: Erk Russell and Mike Leach will never be in the College HOF. Although both made major impacts in College Football.

    • Glad you brought up Mike Leach because there is a case that should get consideration for bending the rules. His winning percentage is .004% short, but he legitimately changed the game, changed how it was played and influenced the sport/how to coach it as a whole. Apples and Oranges imo.

    • No he doesn't. Few do. Tua doesn't, Mac Jones doesn't, Hurts doesn't and so on. All of which were better than Bennett. The hall is reserved for people who took over games. Bennett coasted. VY, Tebow, Leinart, etc. Guys like that are transcendent. Bennett will be a legend in Athens but the rest of the world will completely forget his name.

      • Agree. Those rules were put in place for a reason. When someone has an extraordinary college career and then might not even sniff the NFL, it's a sign that his individual talents alone didn't make him great.

        Not taking anything away from Stetson. He's a great player and a great story.

        • Should Charlie Ward be in the HOF?

          He never sniffed the NFL. Is that a sign that his individual talents alone didn’t make him great? What about Tommie Frazier?

      • I think it's too early to make the call on whether he should make it in or not. If UGA takes a nosedive here in the next year or two, then maybe the argument can be made that SB put the team on his shoulders and is worthy of every accolade his fans are heaping on him. But, if the Dawgs continue their winning ways, then maybe SB will be seen as just the first of many UGA multi-winners...

      • It's too early to tell whether Stetson, Tua or Mac Jones deserve to be in the HOF or not. It needs to be seen if their resumes will stand the test of time.

        As for the world forgetting Bennett's name, only time will tell on that too.

      • I think I have to agree with you Lucuix. Bennett is a great player, but he was one star on a team of nothing but stars.
        Nobody put up earth shattering numbers on UGA's offense this year because nobody needed to.
        The offense wasn't built around a single "super star" who carried everyone else on his back. And Bennett, if he was playing for another team, would NOT have been that guy.
        It wouldn't be unreasonable to count the 21 or 22 UGA teams as a whole as being somewhere among the best collections of players on a team at one time, but I don't think any one of them is necessarily "Hall of Fame" material.

      • Bennett won Offense MVP in 2-playoff games, and he also won MVP in two National Championship games.

        Michigan: 20/30 - 313. 10.4 Attempt 3TD 0 INT 95.9 QBR.
        Alabama: 17/26 - 224. 8.6 Attempt 2TD 0 INT 71.0 QBR.
        Ohio St: 23/34 - 398. 11.7 Attempt 3TD 1 INT 75.2 QBR.
        TCU: 18/25 - 304 - 12.2 Attempt 4TD 0INT 99.5 QBR.

        In three of those games - Bennett outplayed a top-4 Heisman candidate.

        How does a player coast, while winning Offense MVP in those 4 games and with those kinds of numbers?

        Moreover, Bennett led Georgia to the No.4 Scoring Offense in 2022.

        That is not coasting, that's an elite offense led by an elite Quarterback...

        • I could - would agree with the no's, if the selection process wasn't so arbitrary.

          Look at the 2022 All American RB selection: Blake Corum - Michigan: 54 other RB's had a higher average per rush attempt. 8 other RB's had a higher rushing average per game.

          Corum is not No.1 in a single major RB category - but he's the All American pick for 2022 RB.

          So, Bennett and countless other players can't be in the HOF - because voters decided to go for other players based on a purely arbitrary selection process.

          And so many are convinced that this is the best process?

      • Bennett coasted? How did he coast and win offensive MVP in every playoff game he was in? There was no 100 yard rusher in any game so where did the offense come from? If a QB coasted,it was McCaron.

        • Uh yeah... McCaron as most Bama QBs have,.. coasted. The fact that you seem to have taken such great offense shows me you agree. Bennett isn't a great college qb. He is a game manager at best.

  • That’s it! Let’s change the rules and lower the standards when it doesn’t fit what we like right now. Forget all the others who actually MET THE REQUIREMENTS.
    Conor I bet you’re in the “everyone gets a trophy” crowd.

    • And before you leghumpers cry that I’m picking on Stetson. I’m not. I actually like the guy. But I am not now nor have I ever been a fan of lowering standards.
      Pete Rose is one of the greatest baseball players ever. However he does not meet the requirements to the HOF and I hope he never gets in.
      And no I’m not equating the two because Stetson is a good guy and Rose is a liar and crook. But the requirements of both HOF’s are what they are.

      • Beef so every policy, procedure, requirement for every institution, accreditation, facility, association… should have their rules, standards and regulations cast in stone for eternity? Why?

        • well by your logic anytime someone from your team doesn't meet the requirements we lower the standards. Sorry Stetson doesn't meet them, too bad so sad......

    • Agree, and ‘everyone gets a trophy’ is similar to expanded playoffs mentality.
      Bennett has enough to be proud of, and tweaking the rules as an accommodation would be, or should be, insulting.

  • Who effing cares about these individual awards? Stetson Bennett will be atop the equivalent of Mount Olympus in the eyes of the Georgia faithful. The rest of us acknowledge that he was a great quarterback. Look at his career stats:

    65% completion percentage
    Nearly 8500 yards passing
    66 TDs vs. 21 INTs
    160 QBR
    14 rushing TDs

    Bennett will certainly be enshrined in the UGA circle of honor with the other Georgia greats.

  • He should be in the Georgia HOF, and that's just fine. Can you really argue that he should have been a 1st team All-American? I don't think so, and that is the real reason people have to turn to "lets change the rules then". Honestly, I don't think anyone would really notice one way or another minus Bennett himself. But I don't think this is a strong enough case to turn the College Football HOF upside down for.

      • Mike Leach, and probably only Mike Leach. I have to admit, I don't pay much attention to who is or is not in the HOF, but Leach legitimately changed the game during his time as well as moving forward. That is an exceptional case imo.

        • Let's not forget that it was Hal Mumme who came up with the Air Raid offense. Coach Leach certainly improved it.
          But that's the problem. If you think the rules should change for him, then others will come up with reasons to change it for their guy. In this case Stetson Bennett.

        • Yeah, I'm just saying the case for Leach vs the case for Bennett is Apples and Oranges, one changed the game, one had really good two years. If I were to mend the rules for one it would be a pretty easy decision imo.

        • I'm all for changing the rules if necessary but not for exceptions. We're guilty of recently bias. College Football is 100 years old and will be around long after we're gone. How many players/coaches have been unfairly kept out of the hall of fame or will be kept out for various reasons?

        • I'm not even saying change the rules to make the winning% threshold .595 because I don't think it's necessary either, I'm just saying realize he didn't have an opportunity to coach a full career but his contributions are above and beyond and deserving of induction. He's a deserving exception to ignore that one threshold, he has a strong enough case, imo.

    • It’s the greatest individual player story in the history of college football. If Bennett’s not in the CFB Hall of Fame, they should just close it down.

      • There are probably about a thousand "greatest individual player stories" in the history of college football.

        • Name “a thousand” walk-on QB’s who won two national titles as a starter.

          Go ahead. Heck, forget a thousand, just name another.

        • So now your moving the goalpost from individual player to QB only. See, I mean simply having to change your argument to his favor shows there's not much argument to begin with.

        • Name a thousand college athletes that got to develop for several years and play to the age of 25. Isn't it a coincidence that Stetson suddenly became great at around the age he should have been long gone from college? It was a bizarre situation and I'm not impressed. Do you realize Jalen Hurts is younger than Stetson? Imagine if Bama was still trotting out Hurts as QB today...

      • alatide, that's an easy question. multiple 100 x 131 and you get 13,100 players across 131 fbs schools amongst 85 schol players and 15 preferred walk-ons within a given year. now, consider that # with who enrolled from '16 - '20 who will have had the exact same opportunity as bennett...with a 6th yr of elgibility.

        the books on this 6th yr of elgiblity will close in 2025. pretty good odds that we won't see another player of comparable credentials, as we certainly haven't seen another to date.

        i'm in indifferent in whether bennett gets into the hof, but the opportunity for thousands of others has and will be there....but won't be matched.

        • Stetson definitely took advantage of the situation more than most and I'm not saying he has no ability. I'm just pointing out how bizarre the situation is (he's older than Tua and Jalen who are years into their pro careers), and that he basically played two college careers (the first 3 years he was a scrub and then finally in the last 3 years slowly became great). Obviously he benefited from that huge extra development time and to me it's more about the fact that he was given this extra time as opposed to the old "walk-on that was a hidden gem" story. Then you add in the fact that he was on ultra-elite teams as well as the fact that he never won a Heisman and didn't garner recognition from the NFL as a big time player and it adds up to a guy who just took advantage of an odd situation and lingered in a sport meant for 18-21 year olds for many years.

    • And that is where it should stay, put him in the Georgia Hall of fame but the college football hall of fame, if he doesn't meet the standards, he doesn't belong. The standards are that selective for a reason, if you lower them for him, what about some Southwest Central Southern Arkansas QB, who was their greatest ever?

  • Personally, I don't think he should be based on the qualifications. Great QB, won two Nattys, and probably will go down as the GOAT of UGA QBs, but the guidelines are there for a reason.

    Does it really matter though, probably not.

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