Which Auburn football players should be on next year's College Football Hall of Fame ballot?
AUBURN — Former Auburn football players Gregg Carr, Ed King and Takeo Spikes, along with former coach Tommy Tuberville, all have a chance at making the College Football Hall of Fame.
That's because each of them is on the 2024 ballot, which was released earlier this month. Carr was on the ballot last year, but it's the first appearances for King, Spikes and Tuberville. The class will be announced in early 2024, with the icons officially inducted Dec. 10 of next year.
Auburn currently has 12 enshrined figures with direct ties to the program: former coaches Mike Donahue, Pat Dye, John Heisman and Ralph "Shug" Jordan are all in, as well as former players Terry Beasley, Ed Dyas, Tucker Frederickson, Walter Gilbert, Jimmy Hitchcock, Bo Jackson, Tracy Rocker and Pat Sullivan.
LOOKING AHEAD: Projecting Auburn football's starters ahead of 2023 season after major roster shuffle
ALABAMA TIES: Takeo Spikes, Antonio Langham headline Alabama icons on College Football Hall of Fame ballot
FUTURE SCHEDULE: Making the argument for Auburn football to play each SEC team in 2024
Qualifications for players to even be on the ballot are stringent. They must be 10 years removed from playing in college, but no more than 50, per the hall's website. They also must have received first-team All-American recognition by at least one of the five selectors the NCAA uses to create the consensus All-American teams (AP, FWAA, AFCA, Sporting News and Walter Camp) and be retired from professional football.
Coaches need to have been a head coach for at least 10 seasons, coached 100 games and have a career winning percentage of at least 60%. Nominations are made by current athletics directors, head coaches and sports information directors. The president or executive director of a dues-paying chapter of the National Football Foundation may also make nominations.
Considering those qualifiers, here are three former Auburn football players that could receive consideration for the hall on next year's ballot.
QB Cam Newton
There are a few hurdles standing between Cam Newton and the College Football Hall of Fame, with the first being retirement. Newton hasn't appeared in an NFL game since Jan. 9, 2022, but he has yet to officially announce any intentions to hang up his cleats. Earlier this year, Newton posted a video to Twitter announcing he would be throwing at Auburn's Pro Day in front of league scouts: "Ain't 32 (others QBs) better than me," Newton said in the post.
Newton also started one year in FBS. Each of the 10 former FBS quarterbacks on the 2024 ballot were starters for multiple seasons at their respective schools, though Newton is a unique case as many credit him with having one of the best, if not the the best, seasons of all time in 2010.
Before the Carolina Panthers took him No. 1 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft, Newton led Auburn to an undefeated record, a national championship, won the Heisman Trophy and tallied 4,369 yards from scrimmage to go along with 51 total touchdowns.
RB Cadillac Williams
On-field success is obviously the most important factor for voters to weigh, but the hall's website also points to a player having "proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community and fellow man" as something to consider.
Not many exemplify that more than Cadillac Williams, who has been an assistant at Auburn since 2019 and checks plenty of the on-field boxes, too. Williams teamed up in the backfield with Ronnie Brown from 2001-04, helping lead the Tigers to four consecutive bowl games and a perfect 13-0 season in 2004.
Clemson's CJ Spiller is the latest running back to be voted into the hall. He collected 4,967 yards and 43 touchdowns from scrimmage over four seasons, while also returning 127 kick and punt returns for 2,621 yards and eight scores. Williams doesn't have that resume in the return game, but he has more rushing yards (3,831 vs. 3,547) and three more TDs from scrimmage than Spiller.
CB Carlos Rogers
Carlos Rogers, who was teammates with Williams in the early 2000s, was a consensus All-American in 2004. He ranks second in SEC history with 40 pass deflections (behind Demarcus Milliner's 41) and hauled in seven interceptions over his career, with four coming in 2002.
In 2004, Rogers became the first Auburn player to win the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given each year to the nation's best defensive back. He went on to be drafted No. 9 overall by Washington in 2005 and had a 10-year career in the pros.
A cornerback has not been inducted into the hall since Terrell Buckley made it in 2009. He pulled down 21 interceptions at Florida State from 1989-91.
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football players that could be on next CFB Hall of Fame ballot
