One of the greatest honors a college football player or coach can have is to be inducted into the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame, and there are several past inductees with Arkansas ties.
Four more have a chance to add their names to that distinguished list as part of the 2018 class.
This year's ballot includes Dan Hampton and Cliff Powell, former Arkansas Razorbacks, as well as former Arkansas State great Bill Bergey and Leslie O'Neal (Little Rock Hall), who played at Oklahoma State.
The competition, though, is incredible with 75 nominees on the regular ballot and 98 on the divisional ballot.
Looking through the list and seeing all the outstanding players who have yet to be honored was a little surprising.
Hampton was a first-team All-American for the Hogs in 1978 and two-time All-Southwest Conference selection. During his senior season, he recorded 18 tackles for a loss. He was nicknamed "Danimal" for his aggressive play as a defensive lineman.
How nominees did in the NFL is not considered, but Hampton was the fourth pick of the first round in 1979 by the Chicago Bears, which he helped win a Super Bowl. He was a four-time first team All-Pro and twice was second team. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
He currently hosts a Bears postgame show on WGN Radio in Chicago.
Powell was an All-American linebacker for the Hogs in 1969, was a two-time, first-team All-SWC selection and helped lead the Razorbacks to two Sugar Bowl appearances. His 367 tackles rank sixth on the all-time career list.
O'Neal was a two-time All-American for Oklahoma State, a three-time All-Big Eight selection and was the conference's 1984 Defensive Player of the Year. As a defensive end, he had a school-record 34 sacks for the Cowboys.
O'Neal was the eighth player taken in the first round of the 1986 draft and played professionally for 13 years. He was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1986.
Bergey, a nominee on the divisional ballot, is considered by many to be ASU's greatest player ever. He was an All-American in 1968, when he averaged 19.6 tackles per game and was a three-time All-Southland Conference selection.
He was drafted in the second round by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1969 and later signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was first-team All-Pro four times and a second-team selection three times.
All four have already been inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
Archie Manning, chairman of the National Football Foundation, points out in his introduction letter for the ballot that 5.19 million athletes have played college football and only 987 have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
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Interesting, that with all the layoffs at ESPN, it was announced Wednesday that Lee Corso had signed a multiyear contract extension to be a part of College GameDay. Corso, 81, started with ESPN in 1987.
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Bret Bielema will be the leadoff hitter for the SEC football media days in Hoover, Ala., on July 10.
He will be sharing the spotlight that day with LSU's Ed Orgeron and Tennessee's Butch Jones.
The most attended news conference will be the first one Wednesday, when Alabama's Nick Saban thanks everyone for coming and says he hopes they've had a good summer.
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A proud alumnus was quick to send an email and point out that Oregon State, not Oregon, is the 4-1 favorite to win the College World Series.
Oregon, he pointed out (of course he did) didn't make the field. He said all 15 alums in the area would appreciate a correction.
Incidentally, anyone heading to Fayetteville for the NCAA baseball regional needs to know parking is limited, so plan on arriving early.
Sports on 06/02/2017