How many Heisman Trophy winners are in the Hall of Fame?
Winning the Heisman Trophy is the highest individual honor a college football player can win, but how many went on to achieve success in the NFL and make the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
The NFL didn’t even exist as we know it today when the Heisman Trophy was first awarded in 1935. The inaugural NFL Draft wasn’t until 1936 when the first Heisman Trophy winner, Jay Berwanger was also the first ever No. 1 NFL Draft pick.
Berwanger never played a down in the NFL after failing to come to terms on a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles who drafted him or the Chicago Bears who traded for him.
But in the year’s since, the NFL served as the next step in the career of these dominant college football players. Some didn’t match their college success while others continued to dominate in the professional ranks just as they did on the college landscape.
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A select few were even able to meet the highest levels of success in the NFL and be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame when their careers ended.
How many Heisman Trophy winners are in the Hall of Fame?
The answer is only nine. Here is the list of Heisman Trophy winners who are in the Hall of Fame along with the year they won the Heisman.
Doak Walker, SMU – 1948
Paul Hornung, Notre Dame – 1956
Roger Staubach, Navy – 1963
O.J. Simpson, USC – 1966
Tony Dorsett, Pitt – 1976
Earl Campbell, Texas – 1977
Marcus Allen, USC – 1981
Tim Brown, Notre Dame – 1987
Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State – 1988
The list will grow five years after 1997 Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson retires because he’s first ballot Hall of Fame material. And while it’s very early in his career 2010 Heisman winner Cam Newton is on a path that could see him enshrined in Canton, Ohio and join the aforementioned Heisman winners in the Hall of Fame.