Which College Football programs send the most players to the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
The 2024 NFL Honors awards ceremony is tonight. We'll get to find out who won this past season's award for Most Valuable Player, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and more. But perhaps more importantly, they will also announce the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024. After more than […]
The 2024 NFL Honors awards ceremony is tonight. We'll get to find out who won this past season's award for Most Valuable Player, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and more. But perhaps more importantly, they will also announce the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
After more than 60 years of the Pro Football Hall of Fame classes, there are now 371 members among those celebrated as the greatest players to ever grace a football field.
But how do players get to the Hall of Fame? Where do they come from? For most of them, the most crucial years that define their career's trajectory take place at the university level. So which College Football programs churn out the greatest to ever play the game? And which schools are set to add to their totals tonight?
Most Pro Football Hall of Famers by University
- Notre Dame – 14
- Southern California – 14
- Michigan -11
- Ohio State – 10
- Pittsburgh – 10
- Miami (FL) – 9
- Alabama – 8
- Syracuse – 8
- Minnesota – 7
- Illinois – 6
- LSU – 6
- UCLA – 6
- Arizona State – 5
- Arkansas – 5
- Georgia – 5
- Iowa – 5
- Nebraska – 5
- San Francisco – 5
- SMU – 5
- Texas – 5
- Wisconsin – 5
In today's game it might be easy to think that Alabama or Georgia should be leading this list, but in the grand scheme of NFL history they have some catching up to do.
Notre Dame and USC have run away with the most Hall of Famers competition for quite some time, but they won't be adding to their totals this year.
Notre Dame's prime years of sending players to the Hall of Fame have clearly passed, but they have had esteemed players like Joe Montana, Tim Brown, Paul Hornung, Alan Page, Earl Lambeau, and Jerome Bettis.
USC gifted us with Troy Polamalu, Junior Seau, Ronnie Lott, Bruce Matthews, and Marcus Allen.
But which college football programs have a shot to add a name or two to their Hall of Famers list this year?
2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame Finalists
- Eric Allen, CB Arizona State
- Jared Allen, EDGE Idaho State
- Willie Anderson, OT Auburn
- Jahri Evans, OG Bloomsburg
- Dwight Freeney, EDGE Syracuse
- Antonio Gates, TE Kent State
- Rodney Harrison, S Western Illinois
- Devin Hester, WR/KR/PR Miami (FL)
- Torry Holt, WR NC State
- Andre Johnson, WR Miami (FL)
- Julius Peppers, EDGE North Carolina
- Fred Taylor, RB Florida
- Reggie Wayne, WR Miami (FL)
- Patrick Willis, LB Ole Miss
- Darren Woodson, S Arizona State
Miami (FL) was stacked in the early 2000s, so it makes sense that we're seeing several of their greats enter Hall of Fame Finalist territory. And since Hurricanes players represent 20% of the finalists pool there's a great chance they move into the Top 5 college football programs of all time in terms of Hall of Fame representation. In fact, if they get all three in, they'll move to third all-time!
Arizona State may be surprising to some, but they have a storied history of college football greats. If both of their former stars land in the Hall of Fame the Sun Devils will leap into the Top 10 all-time!
The Hall of Fame selections always seem to surprise, so tune in tonight at 9pm ET to find out which NFL greats get inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
