Hall of Fame College Fun

It's fun to take a look at the 318 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame broken down in various ways. Colleges, teams, positions  even jersey numbers. The Hall of Fame site has all of those and more. Here's some of the fun college stuff.

Schools with the most Hall of Famers

Notre Dame (13)
USC (12)
Ohio State (10)
Alabama (8)
Michigan (8)
Pittsburgh (8)
Syracuse (8)
Miami (FL) (7)
Minnesota (7)
Illinois (6)

The members that represent those schools

Notre Dame: Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Nick Bouniconti, Dave Casper, George Connor, Eddie DeBoartolo, Jr., Paul Hornung, Curly Lambeau, Johnny (Blood) McNally, Wayne Millner, Joe Montana, Alan Page, George Trafton

USC: Marcus Allen, Morris (Red) Badgro, Frank Gifford, Ronnie Lott, Bruce Matthews, Ron Mix, Anthony Munoz, Junior Seau, O.J. Simpson, Lynn Swann, Willie Wood, Ron Yary

Ohio State: Cris Carter, Sid Gillman, Lou Groza, Dante Lavelli, Dick LeBaeu, Orlando Pace, Jim Parker, Ed Sabol, Paul Warfield, Bill Willis

Alabama: John Hannah, Don Hutson, Joe Namath, Ozzie Newsome, Ken Stabler, Bart Starr, Dwight Stephenson, Derrick Thomas

Michigan: George Allen, Dan Dierdorf, Len Ford, Benny Friedman, Bill Hewitt, Elroy Hirsch, Tom Mack, Ralph Wilson, Jr.

Pittsburgh: Mike Ditka, Chris Doleman, Tony Dorsett, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Dan Marino, Curtis Martin, Joe Schmidt

Syracuse: Jim Brown, Larry Csonka, Al Davis, Marvin Harrison, Floyd Little, John Mackey, Art Monk, Jim Ringo

Miami (FL): Ted Hendricks, Michael Irvin, Jim Kelly, Cortez Kennedy, Ray Lewis, Jim Otto, Warren Sapp

Minnesota: Bobby Bell, Tony Dungy, Bud Grant, Carl Eller, Bronko Nagurski, Leo Nomellini, Charlie Sanders

Illinois: Dick Butkus, Harold (Red) Grange, George Halas, Bobby Mitchell, Ray Nitschke, Hugh Ray

That's a fine haul for all those schools. My school, Cal, finally hit the Hall college register in 2011 with Les Richter. Cal does have a football history. Some of it's pretty great. The best of that history was in the early 1920s. The Golden Bears under head coach Andy Smith was one of the best in college football during the NFL's toddler years. Professional football wasn't a hot destination for a college graduate during those years, especially for graduates from schools way out west. Other than a few fine stretches Cal has mostly been a college football afterthought for the past 90 years. Some of that can be seen in Richter's lonely presence in Canton. On the bright side for Cal is the fact that Tony Gonzalez and Aaron Rodgers will be joining Richter as soon as they are eligible.

Here are a few schools with a greater Hall representation than Cal:

Carlisle (2)
Compton Junior College (3)
Morgan State (4)
Cal Poly-SLO (2)
San Francisco (5)

That last one has a warm place in my heart. The University of San Francisco Dons. My father attended USF in the late 40s and early 50s. The 1951 Dons was one of the most loaded college teams ever. Unbeaten, untied, and uninvited to a bowl game. They were uninvited to a bowl game because two black players (Ollie Matson and Burl Toler) were on the team. The team refused to accept an invitation to a racist bowl game that wouldn't allow their entire team. If the Dons had been able to play in a bowl game they might be remembered as one of the best college football teams in history. Instead they're a footnote. Four future Pro Football Hall of Famers played on those Dons teams. Ollie Matson, Gino Marchetti, Bob St. Clair, and Dick Stanfel. Those most familiar with the team, my father included, felt that Burl Toler was the team's' best player. He might've joined his teammates in Canton if a knee injury in a college all-star game hadn't ended any shot at a pro career. He still made his mark on the NFL as the league's first black official. Toler's son and grandson played football for Cal. Burl Toler III is currently Cal's running backs coach. The fifth Pro Football Hall of Famer from those USF teams is Pete Rozelle. He was the Dons sports information director and helped get the Dons the national attention that they deserved. My father told tales of all of his classmates but those of Rozelle walking around campus with a lunch pail were some of my favorites. I loved leafing through my father's yearbook and listening to his Dons stories. Those forgotten teams should be remembered.

That's just a sample of the Hall of Fame college fun.