By ISU Sports Information
IRVING, Texas – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced the names on the 2017 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame Wednesday, and Illinois State’s Boomer Grigsby was among those listed for selection.
Grigsby, a three-time First-Team All-American (2002-04) and the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) career leader in total (550) and solo (325) tackles, joins the list along with 75 players and six coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision, and 94 players and 29 coaches from the divisional ranks.
“It’s an enormous honor to just be on the ballot when you think that more than 5.12 million people have played college football,” NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell said. “The Hall’s requirement of being a First-Team All-American creates a much smaller pool of only 1,500 individuals who are even eligible to be on the ballot, so being in today’s elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to ever have played the game, and we are proud to announce their names. We look forward to announcing the 2017 Hall of Fame Class on the Friday before the College Football Playoff National Championship in Tampa.”
During his illustrious career at Illinois State, Grigsby became one of the most celebrated players in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) history. The Canton, Illinois, native was a three-time Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year, making him the only player in league history to accomplish the feat. He was also a three-time finalist in The Sports Network’s Buck Buchanan Award voting as the nation’s top FCS defensive player. He is the only player in the history of the award to finish in the top-three for three-consecutive years.
He has been inducted into the Canton High School and Illinois State Athletics Percy Family halls of fame and was selected as a member of the MVFC All-Select NFL Team and Silver Anniversary Team (announced in 2009). For all of his accomplishments, the Defensive Player of the Year Award presented by College Sporting News has been named in honor Grigsby. The award is given annually by CSN, the largest and oldest news service solely devoted to publishing original content and other information of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision.
Following his decorated collegiate career, Grigsby was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played three seasons with the Chiefs, before finishing his career with stops with the Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans. Grigsby continued his relationship with Illinois State football as the color analyst for Redbird football broadcasts on Comcast SportsNet Chicago for three seasons and also served as a television analyst for Illinois High School Association football playoff broadcasts for two years.
The ballot was emailed this week to the more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers whose votes will be tabulated and submitted to the NFF’s Honors Courts, which deliberate and select the class. The FBS Honors Court, chaired by NFF Board Member and College Football Hall of Famer Archie Griffin from Ohio State, and the Divisional Honors Court, chaired by former Marshall head coach, longtime athletics director and NFF Board Member Jack Lengyel, include an elite and geographically diverse pool of athletic administrators, hall of famers and members of the media.
The announcement of the 2017 Class will be made Friday, Jan. 6, 2017, in Tampa, Florida. The class will then be inducted at the 60th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Dec. 5, 2017, at the landmark Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. The inductees will be permanently enshrined at the new College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta later that December and honored on the field during the 13th Annual National Hall of Fame Salute during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
