Tennessee football: Three Vols up for CFB HoF; Eric Berry should be a lock
Once again, Tennessee football is well-represented on the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame ballot. There are three former Vols as players on there and a current UT coach who is on there for what he did as a player as another school.
The National Football Foundation named former UT players Willie Gault, Larry Seivers and Eric Berry onto its Hall of Fame ballot. Meanwhile, Rocky Top’s new head coach, Josh Heupel, was also on the ballot for what he did as a player with the Oklahoma Sooners, earning Heisman Trophy Runner-Up honors in 2000 while winning the national championship.
Of these four with Tennessee football connections, however, Berry is the only player who is on the ballot for the first time. He is also the player who should be a lock above anybody else. Here is his list of accomplishments from NFF.
"Two-time unanimous First Team All-American (2008-09) and winner of the 2009 Thorpe Award…2008 SEC Defensive Player of the Year and three-time All-SEC selection…SEC’s all-time leader in career INT return yards (494) and single-season INT return yards (265 in 2008)."
Berry is the only player among these four who was a two-time All-American and won the official award for the best player at his position. He and John Henderson are the only players in UT history to actually have that distinction, as Henderson was a two-time All-American in 2000 and 2001 while winning the Outland Trophy in 2000.
What’s even more impressive about Berry is that record pointed out by NFF, where he is the SEC’s all-time leader in career interception return yards. That’s impressive because he only played three years, and in his junior year, 2009, he played much closer to the line of scrimmage, often times as a safety disguising as a linebacker, in Monte Kiffin’s Cover 2 schemes.
If John Chavis had remained the Vols’ defensive coordinator after Phillip Fulmer was fired, or even if Berry stayed in 2010 and then played for Justin Wilcox, he would have easily set the record for career interception return yards and career return yards off turnovers in general. Simply put, nobody on the list is more deserving to be a lock than Berry.
To be fair, Seivers was a two-time All-American in 1975 and 1976, and he couldn’t win the award for best player at his position since the Fred Biletnikoff Award didn’t exist back then. However, he didn’t earn All-American honors from every outlet both years, and Berry did. Gault, meanwhile, was only a one-time All-American for Tennessee football in 1982.
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Heupel, to be fair, was AP Player of the Year in 2000 and also won the Walter Camp, Archie Griffin and Harley Awards. He was also a two-year starter. However, he was only a one-time All-American, and Chris Weinke beat him out for the Davey O’Brien Award that year.
Still, Heupel and Seivers both have a strong case. Gault’s case could be made stronger by how he represented the NCAA at the next level, becoming an Olympic Gold Medalist and winning a Super Bowl as the leading receiver on the 1985 Chicago bears.
When you add in post-college accomplishments, Berry dominates even further. He was a five-time Pro Bowler and a three-time First Team All Pro safety over the only five full seasons he played with the Kansas City Chiefs, and he inspired the world by coming back from lymphoma to earn back to back Pro Bowl and First Team All Pro honors in 2015 and 2016.
dark. Next. All-time NFL Vols at each position
Earlier this year, Al Wilson, one of Tennessee football’s greatest players, was named to the 2021 College Football Hall of Fame class. He will be the 25th Vol inducted at the annual NFF Awards on Dec. 7 this year, which will also include the 2020 class since last year’s awards show was canceled due to COVID. The 2022 class will be announced at some point in January of next year.