LAS VEGAS – It has been nearly a year since Illinois State football great Boomer Grigsby learned that he had earned a spot among college football's all-time greats as a member of the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class. That long wait comes to an end Tuesday, when the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class will officially be inducted during the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner.
Grigsby is one of 18 First Team All-America players and three standout coaches in the 2022 Class that were selected from the national ballot of 78 players and seven coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision, the 99 players and 33 coaches from the divisional ranks and the NFF Veterans Committee candidates. He is the first Illinois State football player to be selected for the College Football Hall of Fame.
Live streams of Tuesday's press conference at Noon CT and the NFF Annual Awards Dinner at 9 p.m. CT can be found above.
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, is of the most celebrated players in 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 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. In addition to the College Football Hall, Grigsby has also 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).Â
Following his illustrious 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 NBC Sports Chicago for three seasons and served as a television analyst for Illinois High School Association football playoff broadcasts for two years.
The 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class includes LaVar Arrington (Penn State), Champ Bailey (Georgia), Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech), Sylvester Croom (Alabama), Mike Doss (Ohio State), Chuck Ealey (Toledo), Kevin Faulk (LSU), Moe Gardner (Illinois), Boomer Grigsby (Illinois State), Mike Hass (Oregon State), Marvin Jones (Florida State), Andrew Luck (Stanford), Mark Messner (Michigan), Terry Miller (Oklahoma State), Rashaan Salaam (Colorado), Dennis Thomas (Alcorn State), Zach Wiegert (Nebraska), Roy Williams (Oklahoma) and coaches John Luckhardt (Washington & Jefferson [PA], California [PA]), Billy Jack Murphy (Memphis) and Gary Pinkel (Toledo, Missouri).
The Class of 2022's accomplishments will be forever immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, and each inductee will receive a custom ring created by Jostens, the official and exclusive supplier of NFF rings.
Also, Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart will accept the John L. Toner Award for excellence in athletics administration and the voice of the Indiana Hosiers Don Fischer will accept the Chris Schenkel Award for excellence in broadcasting. The NFF National Scholar-Athletes and Campbell Trophy finalists will also be present and honored.
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