Alabama Football: NCAA all-time leading scorer won’t make HOF?

When you think of a player that is the all-time leading scorer in the history of a sport you think certainly that player will be a Hall of Famer. Kareem Abdul Jabbar made the NBA’s Hall Of Fame, Wayne Gretzky made the NHL’s Hall of Fame, Adam Vinatieri will be a shoo-in once he’s eligible in 2025, and Rickey Henderson the MLB’s all-time runs leader war a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Yet, College Football’s All-Time leading scorer the Alabama Football Kicker Will Reichard will most likely be ineligible due to College Football Hall of Fame’s rules.

The First rule listed by the College Football Hall of Fame is that a player must’ve received First Team All-American Honors by one of the major selectors at least once in their career. Will Reichard was not named to the First Team by any of the selectors throughout his four years playing for the Alabama Football team.

This season Reichard missed out to Graham Nicholson who beat out Reichard for the Groza Award and Jose Pizano of UNLV. Nicholson finished the season 26-27 on field goals, 35-36 on extra points, and had a season-long of 52 yards. Pizano finished the season 25-27 on field goals, 52-52 on extra points, and had a season-long of 52 yards. Reichard finished the season 20-23 on field goals, 53-53 on extra points, and had a season-long of 51 yards.

The other opportunity Reichard had was in the 2020 season when Reichard was named an All-American but, not a first teamer. Reichard missed out to Miami Kicker Jose Borregales who was a unanimous All-American.

Alabama Football: Travesty to keep the sports leading score out of the HOF.

There’s no sport that’s kept it’s leading scorer out of the Hall of Fame and College Football should be no different. Keeping a player out of the Hall of Fame because writers didn’t vote him as the best player at his position in a single season. Mind you this is the same Hall of Fame that had 22 inductees in 2023, 19 inductees in 2022, and 19 inductees in 2020. If the argument against Reichard is that it’s not a longevity award fine but there are people in the Hall of Fame that would go against that sentiment. Mark Richt coached for eighteen seasons with only two SEC Championships he was never the “best coach” in a single season. The Hall of Fame at the end of the day serves one purpose: To tell the history of the sport. How can you tell the story of College Football without the leading scorer in the history of the sport?

Note: Inductees and Rules via College Football Hall of Fame