Peppers, Jurkovic Among Packers on College Football Hall of Fame Ballot

Led by Julius Peppers, the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 includes a handful of players who suited up for the Green Bay Packers.

Highlighting the list of candidates who played at Football Bowl Subdivision schools is Peppers, the former North Carolina defensive end and basketball player. In 2000, he led the ACC with 15 sacks and 24 tackles for losses. In 2001, he won the Bednarik and Lombardi awards and finished 10th in Heisman Trophy voting. In 17 NFL seasons, he recorded 159.5 sacks. That includes 26 sacks and eight forced fumbles with the Packers from 2014 through 2016. A nine-time Pro Bowler, Peppers was named to the all-decade teams of the 2000s and 2010s.

At Texas Tech, quarterback Graham Harrell was a first-team All-American and AT&T All-America Player of the Year in 2008, when he finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting. He holds seven NCAA records, including his 20 games of 400-plus passing yards. He ranks second in Big 12 history with 15,793 career passing yards. He spent the 2010 through 2012 seasons with Green Bay, including all of the 2012 season as Aaron Rodgers’ primary backup.

Former Packers linebacker and personnel executive John Dorsey starred at Connecticut before the Huskies moved up to FBS. He led UConn in tackles from 1981 through 1983 and was a first-team All-American in 1983. A fourth-round pick in 1984, Dorsey played in 76 games with 15 starts for Green Bay from 1984 through 1988.

John Jurkovic was a first-team All-American at Division I-AA Eastern Illinois in 1988 and 1989. He set a Gateway Conference record with six sacks in one game and finished his career as the league’s all-time sacks leader with 27. An undrafted free agent who signed with Miami in 1990, he played in 69 games with 53 starts on Green Bay’s defensive line from 1991 through 1995.

Jahri Evans, a first-team All-American offensive lineman at Division II Bloomsburg in 2005, concluded his 12-year NFL career by starting 14 times at right guard for the Packers in 2017. He was a six-time Pro Bowler.

Sean Landeta, a first-team All-American punter at Division II Towson in 1982, punted in the NFL for 21 seasons, including the Packers in 1998. He was the NFL’s all-decade punter of the 1980s.

Others on the ballot include quarterbacks Tim Couch (Kentucky) and Josh Heupel (Oklahoma), who spent time with the Packers, and center Sylvester Croom (Alabama), a Packers running backs coach for three seasons.

The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame announced the list of candidates on Wednesday. It includes 78 players and seven coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 99 players and 33 coaches from the divisional ranks.

“It’s an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.47 million people have played college football and only 1,038 players have been inducted,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell.

That’s less than 0.02 percent.

“The Hall’s requirement of being a first-team All-American creates a much smaller pool of about 1,500 individuals who are even eligible,” Hatchell continued. “Being in today’s elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to have ever played the game, and we look forward to announcing the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class early next year.”