Huff, Peppers On Ballot For NFF CFB Hall Of Fame

CHAPEL HILL – Carolina football legends Ken Huff and Julius Peppers will be on the 2024 ballot for induction into the National Football Foundation (NFF) College Football Hall of Fame, the NFF announced on Monday. The duo are looking to join nine other Tar Heels, six players and three coaches, in the College Hall of Fame including current head coach Mack Brown, who was inducted in 2018. The announcement of the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2024, with specific details to be announced in the future.

"It's an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.62 million people have played college football and only 1,074 players have been inducted," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "The Hall's requirement of being a First-Team All-American creates a much smaller pool of about 1,500 individuals who are even eligible. Being in today's elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to have ever played the game, and we look forward to announcing the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class early next year."

Huff is one of the great offensive linemen in college football history. He played in Chapel Hill from 1972-74 and earned a myriad of honors before being selected as the third overall pick in the 1975 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts. While at UNC, Huff claimed consensus first-team All-America honors in 1974 to go along with first-team All-ACC recognition and the Jacob's Blocking Trophy as the conference's best offensive lineman.

A team captain as a senior, Huff paved the way for an offense that led the ACC in total yards, rushing yards and scoring, while finishing fifth nationally in total yards and ninth in scoring. That unit also produced two 1,000-yard rushers for the first time in program history. As a result, Huff was recognized as the Jim Tatum Award winner as the ACC's top senior student-athlete.

Huff played in the Hula Bowl, the Senior Bowl, and was a captain on the 1975 College All-Star team that took on the Pittsburgh Steelers. He went on to play 11 years and 145 games in the NFL for the Colts and the Washington Redskins, where he became a member of the legendary 'Hogs' offensive line.

Following his stellar NFL career, Huff remained heavily involved in the game thorugh his participation with the Bill Dooley Chapter of the National Football Foundation, where he was a board member and named the Distinguished American in 2016. He also serves as the Alumni President for the Walter Camp Football Foundation and was named the Alumni of the Year in 2013. As a result of his outstanding career, Huff was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

Outside of football, Huff is the owner of an award-winning custom home building company and earned Builder of the Year awards in 2000 and '05. He also remains active with Hope for the Warriors, a non-profit helping disabled servicemen and women.

Peppers played in Chapel Hill from 1999-2001 becoming one of the most disruptive defensive players the sport has ever seen. A unanimous first-team All-American in 2001, he won the Chuck Bednarik Award for the nation's top defensive player and the Rotary Lombardi Award, which at the time was given to the nation's top interior lineman. He finished 10th in the Heisman Trophy balloting, was a finalist for the Nagurski Trophy and was honored as Chevrolet's Defensive Player of the Year.

A first-team All-ACC selection in both 2000 and '01, Peppers finished his career with 167 tackles, 30.5 sacks, 53 TFL, five INTs and five forced fumbles. He went on to be drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the NFL Draft. During his professional career, Peppers earned nine Pro Bowl selections, three first-team All-Pro honors, three second-team All-Pro recognitions and was named to the NFL's All-Decade team for the 2000s.

Peppers has also been extremely generous philanthropically, having donated to the UNC General Alumni Association's Light on the Hill Society Scholarship fund on two separate occasions. He was also the Panthers' 2018 NFL Man of the Year nominee.

The 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 66th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 10, 2024, and permanently immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. They will also be honored at their respective schools with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the 2024 season.

The criteria for Hall of Fame consideration include:

First and foremost, a player must have received First-Team All-America recognition by a selector that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise its consensus All-America teams.
A player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation's Honors Courts 10 full seasons after his final year of intercollegiate football played.
While each nominee's football achievements in college are of prime consideration, his post-football record as a citizen is also weighed. He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community. Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether the candidate earned a college degree.
Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years.* For example, to be eligible for the 2024 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1974 or thereafter. In addition, players who are playing professionally and coaches who are coaching on the professional level are not eligible until after they retire.
A coach becomes eligible three full seasons after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years of age. Active coaches become eligible at 75 years of age. He must have been a head football coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage.
Nominations may only be submitted by the current athletics director, head coach or sports information director (SID) of a candidate's collegiate institution. Nominations may also be submitted by the president/executive director of a dues-paying chapter of the National Football Foundation.

For up-to-date information on Carolina football, visit GoHeels.com/Football and follow us on Twitter (@UNCFootball), Instagram (@uncfootball) and Facebook (Facebook.com/TarHeelFootball).

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