(Stats Perform) – Former Eastern Illinois quarterback Tony Romo and Florida A&M coach Rudy Hubbard represented the FCS level in the 2021 College Football Hall of Fame class, announced Monday.
The 13-member class – 11 players and two coaches – were selected from a national ballot of 78 players and seven coaches from the FBS and 99 players and 33 coaches from the divisional ranks, including the FCS.
The Hall of Fame class will be inducted during the 63rd National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 7 in New York alongside the 2020 class due to last year’s event being canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Romo played the 1999-2002 seasons at Eastern Illinois and led the Ohio Valley Conference program to 25 wins and three straight FCS (formerly Division I-AA) playoff appearances as a starter in his final three seasons. He is the only player in OVC history to be named the conference’s player of the year three times.
A consensus first-team FCS All-American when he won the Walter Payton Award in 2002, Romo is still EIU’s career leader in passing efficiency rating (157.5) and ranks second in career touchdown passes (85) and third in career passing yards (8,212).
He was an undrafted free agent signee with the Dallas Cowboys in 2003 and went on to have a 14-year career with them, earning four Pro Bowl selections before he retired in April 2017.
Hubbard led Florida A&M to the inaugural FCS national title after the Division I split in 1978, and remains the only HBCU head coach to do. He posted 83 wins in 12 seasons with the Rattlers from 1974-85.
His teams won back-to-back Black College Football national championships in 1977 and ’78.
The native of Hubbard, Ohio, was an Ohio State running back from 1965-67. The first black assistant coach with the Buckeyes, Hubbard served six seasons and was part of the 1968 and 1970 national championship staffs under Woody Hayes.
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2021 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CLASS
PLAYERS
Harris Barton, OT, North Carolina (1983-86); David Fulcher, DB, Arizona State (1983-85); Dan Morgan, LB, Miami-Florida (1997-2000); Carson Palmer, QB, Southern California (1998-2002); Tony Romo, QB, Eastern Illinois (1999-2002); Kenneth Sims, DT, Texas (1978-81); C.J. Spiller, RB/KR, Clemson (2006-09); Darren Sproles, RB, Kansas State (2001-04); Aaron Taylor, OT, Notre Dame (1990-93); Andre Tippett, DE, Iowa (1979-81); Al Wilson, LB, Tennessee (1995-98)
COACHES
Rudy Hubbard, Florida A&M (83-48-3, 1974-85); Bob Stoops, Oklahoma (190-48, 1999-2016)
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