Once again, the College Football Hall-of-Fame has selected fourteen candidates to be inducted, and once again, former Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier was omitted from the list. Frazier, along with Eric Crouch and Trev Alberts, apparently wasn't even eligible to be inducted, according to ESPN's Ivan Maisel, despite being on the ballot:
The College Football Hall of Fame began to announce the Class of 2012 Monday by revealing the selection of BYU quarterback Ty Detmer on College Football Live. The remainder will be announced Tuesday. Why does it take so long for a Heisman winner like Detmer (1990) to be elected? Math. There are 22 All-Americans every year. The Hall inducts 12-14 annually. It must select all positions and from all regions. And the Hall has a rule against taking players from the same school in consecutive years.
Will Shields was inducted last season, so that meant no Huskers could be inducted in 2012. Sounds like a silly rule, but if you are going to have a rule like that, why even put the names of Frazier, Crouch, or Alberts on the ballot in the first place? Why raise people's expectations when they aren't even going to be considered?
The idea that Frazier is not in any Hall of Fame that claims to represent the best of college football is simply absurd. Yes, Husker fans are biased in that regard...so I won't make that case. I'll let others make that case:
College Football News: "Frazier, Pace, Wuerrfel, Ismail, Boz, Bruschi. The snubs are better than anyone in the 2012 College Football Hall of Fame Class but Detmer"
Bruce Feldman, CBS: "S(haking) M(y) H(ead). MT @TomFornelli: Tommie Frazier: 33-2, 2 NATIONAL titles, 4 conf champs, 6,266 yds, 83 TDs. NOT GOOD ENOUGH, APPARENTLY"
Jason McIntyre, TheBigLead: "Tommie Frazier: 3 title games (2 titles; MVP of the game Nebraska lost), 9-3 as true freshman. He never won the Heisman, which is criminal"
Mark Kisla, Denver Post : "@TheBigLead Nobody asked me but Tommie Frazier is best college (college, not future pro) QB I have seen in 35 years. Way better than Tebow."
John Taylor, NBC College Football Talk: "Not to slight any of those members of this year’s class, but Tommie Frazier being excluded for a second straight year is, to quote many a response on Twitter, a travesty."
Dave Matter, Columbia Daily Tribune: "Jonathan Ogden elected to College Football Hall of Fame but not Orlando Pace? No Tommie Frazier? Mark Simoneau but noy Derrick Thomas?"
Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star: "When a Hall of Fame announcement makes as much news for who doesn't make it (Tommie Frazier), you've got a problem."
Ohio State fans are also (rightfully) indignant that tackle Orlando Pace wasn't inducted as well. Frankly, if Nebraska could only induct one player in 2011 and 2012, that player should have been Tommie Frazier. Will Shields was a great player, but Frazier might just be the best college quarterback ever. That's not just my opinion; a lot of people share that opinion. We can argue that point, but that's secondary to the discussion at hand as to whether Frazier belongs in the college hall of fame.
As Kerkhoff points out, it really raises questions as to how the college football Hall of Fame conducts their voting. Frankly, I question it as well. I've received ballots the last two years and actually voted last year. This year, the instructions seemed to make it clear I had to be a paying member of the National Football Foundation to vote. Which raises the question about a "pay-to-play" system. Then this lulu:
"The ballot of players and coaches is mailed to all dues-paying members for a member vote, of which results are provided to the Honors Court as part of the information for its meeting. The Honors Court selects the Class."
In other words, the vote means nothing. The "Honors Court" makes the call. Who's the Honors Court? Good question.
And that's why we have the following list of inductees:
PLAYERS
- CHARLES ALEXANDER - TB, LSU (1975-78)
- OTIS ARMSTRONG - HB, Purdue (1970-72)
- STEVE BARTKOWSKI - QB, California (1972-74)
- HAL BEDSOLE - SE, Southern California (1961-63)
- DAVE CASPER - TE, Notre Dame (1971-73)
- TY DETMER - QB, BYU (1988-91)
- TOMMY KRAMER - QB, Rice (1973-76)
- ART MONK - WR, Syracuse (1976-79)
- GREG MYERS - DB, Colorado State (1992-95)
- JONATHAN OGDEN - OT, UCLA (1992-95)
- GABE RIVERA - DT, Texas Tech (1979-82)
- MARK SIMONEAU - LB, Kansas State (1996-99)
- SCOTT THOMAS - S, Air Force (1982-85)
- JOHN WOOTEN* - OG, Colorado (1956-58)
And because it's a closed society that doesn't have to account for their choices, is why Greg Myers is now a college football Hall of Fame player...and Tommie Frazier isn't. Myers wasn't a bad player; a 2 time all-American from Colorado State who won the Jim Thorpe Award for best defensive back in 1995. He was drafted in the 5th round of the NFL Draft and played five seasons in the NFL. He's now an anesthesiologist in Denver. Probably a great guy, and a pretty good player.
But he's a hall of famer and Tommie Frazier isn't? That tells you everything you need to know about the College Football Hall of Fame.