Famed SMU running back Eric Dickerson, Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch and late Alcorn State quarterback Steve McNair headline the 19 players and coaches who made the 2020 College Football Hall of Fame class, announced Wednesday.
In all, the 17 first-team All-America players and two coaches were selected from a national ballot of 215 total FBS and divisional candidates, along with and the National Football Foundation Veterans Committee candidates.
Among the players selected, 10 won conference player of the year honors – including Dickerson and Crouch twice and McNair four times. Thirteen played on conference championship teams. Two played on national championship teams (LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey and Alabama defensive end E.J. Junior (twice).
ESPN college football analyst David Pollack also was selected.
Dickerson, leader of the “Pony Express” at SMU from 1979-82, won Southwest Conference Player of the Year honors twice and is the school’s all-time leading rusher with 4,450 career yards. He also owns 12 other school records and had his No. 19 jersey retired in 2000. He also is an NFL Hall of Famer.
Crouch won the Heisman in 2001 and finished his career as the third quarterback in NCAA history to rush for 3,000 yards and pass for 4,000 yards. That season, Crouch also won Walter Camp Player of the Year, the Davey O’Brien Award, Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and led the Huskers to the national championship game, where they lost to Miami.
McNair, who made his name as “Air McNair,” is the first player from Alcorn State to enter the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1994, he finished third for the Heisman Trophy, tied for the highest finish ever by an FCS player. He remains the all-time total yards leader in FCS history with 16,823 and is the only four-time SWAC Offensive Player of the Year. He died in 2009 at the age of 36.
The full class includes: Florida offensive tackle Lomas Brown, Ohio State running back Keith Byars, Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch, LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, Michigan offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott, Washington State kicker Jason Hanson, Maryland linebacker E.J. Henderson, Alabama defensive end E.J. Junior, UCLA quarterback Cade McNown, Oklahoma State defensive tackle Leslie O’Neal, Virginia defensive back Anthony Poindexter, Georgia defensive end David Pollack, Minnesota defensive end Bob Stein, Colorado receiver Michael Westbrook, Houston receiver Elmo Wright, and former coaches Dick Sheridan and Andy Talley.
The class will be officially inducted during the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8 in New York.