Georgia football: is Nick Chubb a College Football Hall of Famer

PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 01: Nick Chubb (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Because of a NCAA rule Georgia football legend Nick Chubb is currently ineligible for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

To many in the Bulldog Nation and in the college football fandom, Nick Chubb is a surefire hall of famer. In four seasons, Chubb rushed for over 1,000 three times. As a sophomore, he injured his ACL after compiling 747 yards in five games.

He has 4,769 career rushing yards, 5,130 yards of offense, 48 total touchdowns and averaged 6.3 yards per carry. Chubb’s second in the SEC in rushing yards, fifth in rushing touchdowns and sixth in total touchdowns.

As a freshman, he kept Georgia’s season afloat after Todd Gurley’s suspension and Sony Michel’s injury. As a sophomore, he tore through opposing defenses and was on track for over 1,900 rushing yards before his injury. In his junior year, he ran for 1,000 yards behind one of the worst offensive lines to ever play Georgia football. And as a senior, he led the Dawgs to the National Championship Game.

#27 was certainly one of the best running backs in college football during his four seasons. His stats and impact on his team should warrant his inclusion into the College Football Hall of Fame. There’s just one problem though. According to one rule for hall of fame eligibility, Nick Chubb is currently ineligible.

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Why you ask? Because Chubb was never a first-team All-American according to one of the selectors recognized by the College Football Hall of Fame. That’s right, unless a player was selected by the coaches, or a select group of sports writers as the best or second best at his position for any season of their career, they cannot gain entry into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Not even second team All-American’s or freshman All-American’s. Not All-SEC or Academic All-American. On one hand, I can agree with the Hall of Fame. There have been thousands of great college football players. For a Hall of Fame to mean anything, there has to be some deal of exclusiveness. They need a criteria for eligibility.

The problem I have is the criteria. First of all, it’s too strict by limiting eligibility to just first-team All-American’s. There could potentially be a player earn that honor three or four-straight years. A near half-decade worth of running backs would all be ineligible except for one or two.

The second issue is that the criteria is archaic. It’s a rule that is set in the past that the sport has moved on from in almost every area. In 2018, we know longer have the coaches or a group of sports writers select or National Champions. So why still let them decide who’s eligible for the Hall of Fame?

A playoff is a superior format, but leaving that duty to coaches and journalists brought it’s own problems. Coaches don’t watch, college football, they can’t. Unless they watch Thursday games (or a Saturday game if they played Thursday) or had a bye week. The coaches are too busy. Their choice is going to come down to bias for some, and others just copy the media.

As for sports writers, I love my profession and respect those in it. But, we don’t deserve that much influence over the sport. Some sports writers are going to be bias. But also, their own criteria has changed over the years.

Look back over the history of the college football, the AP poll and the media’s All-American lists, you’ll see how the logic around selecting teams and players has evolved. In past eras, players with greats careers were valued more so than one great year. It’s why Freshmen and Sophomores never won the Heisman until 2007.

Nick Chubb may have never been the no. 1 back for any given season. But in the past, the writers would have named him a first team All-American because of his career.

And let’s also look at why Chubb was never a first-team All-American. As a freshman, he took over when the NCAA suspended Todd Gurley and Sony Michel injured his shoulder. Five games into the season. In the last seven regular season games, Chubb rushed for 1,057 yards. He ended the year with 1,547.

But because he was only the star for half a season, the powers that be weren’t going to name him a first team All-American. So in 2014, he’s penalized because of Todd Gurley. Tevin Coleman and Melvin Gordon won first-team All-American honors in 2014 instead.

In his sophomore year, he rushed for 745 yards in the first five games, putting him on pace for 1,937 yards in 13 games. Over 2,000 if Georgia had made the playoffs. But a torn ACL ended his season. Meaning, he’s penalized because of an injury in 2015. Leonard Fournette and Derrick Henry were the consensus first team All-American’s of 2015.

He returned in 2016 and was not 100-percent. Georgia’s offensive line that year was also atrocious. It was the worst I’ve ever seen as a Georgia fan. Yet, he rushed for 1,130 yards. So he’s now penalized for not fully recovering less than a year after an ACL tear, and because of a bad offensive line. Dalvin Cook and D’Onta Foreman earned consensus first team honors in 2016.

Then in 2017, Chubb rushed for 1,345 yards and helped lead Georgia to a SEC Championship and a spot in the National Championship Game. But because teammate Sony Michel also rushed for 1,000 yards, Chubb’s impact was seen as less than other backs around the nation.

Meaning, he was penalized because he finally played on a great team. Instead, Bryce Love and Rashaad Penny earned consensus first-team honors as running backs. Saquon Barkley also earned consensus first-team honors as an all-purpose player.

Nothing against all of those players mentioned, they were all great, some are probably future hall of famers. But none of them had the careers that Chubb had. Henry had one great year and honestly, Deshaun Watson should have won the Heisman that year. Foreman also had only one great year but his other two were quieter than Henry’s. You get the point.

Chubb may have never been the best back during any of his four season’s as Georgia. You can make the argument that he shouldn’t have ever been a first team All-American. But who had a better career from 2014 and 2017 than Chubb? Not talking one or two seasons. Who had three or four better seasons than Chubb? I’d like to hear your argument.

And that’s the biggest fundamental flaw in the NCAA’s criteria for eligibility for induction into the Hall of Fame. It doesn’t award consistency over a three or four-year career. Instead, one-hit wonders are eligible, and Chubb is not.

Next: Where are former Georgia football stars expected to end up?

Hopefully, they will realize how archaic the criteria is and make a change. Maybe make second team All-American’s eligible. Or maybe even All-conference players. But any respectable hall of fame should value careers over one-hit-wonders.

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