FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (June 11, 2018) – Former Northern Arizona University football standout and 1996 Walter Payton Award winner Archie Amerson has been selected as one of the 100 divisional candidates for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation announced.
Amerson, who was honored with the Walter Payton Award as the nation's most outstanding offensive player in Division I-AA for the 1996 season, finished his career as the top rusher in Lumberjack history with 3,196 yards despite playing just two seasons for NAU. He ran for a school-record 2,079 yards in 1996, which still stands as the top single-season rushing total in Lumberjack annals.
"Archie Amerson had the most prolific single-season by a running back in NAU football history and his selection for the 2019 College Hall of Fame ballot is a most deserving honor," current NAU football head coach
Jerome Souers said. "He is and always will be the standard for what players aspire to be within our program as well as someone that achieved unprecedented success on the field. I can't think of anyone more deserving of one of the top honors in college football."
In addition, Amerson's 25 rushing touchdowns in 1996 represent the most by a NAU player in a season. He also owns the FCS and NAU single-game record for rushing scores with seven against Weber State on Oct. 5, 1996.
Amerson also posted the 10
th-most ground yards for a season in program history with 1,117 yards in 1995.
The San Diego, Calif., native was an All-America selection in 1996 and led the Lumberjacks to their first-ever NCAA Division I-AA Playoff berth during a season that saw the 'Jacks lead the nation with an average of 523.7 yards of total offense and 43.0 points per contest.
Amerson went on to enjoy a successful professional career in the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1997-2004. He played in a total of 122 games for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and one game for the Toronto Argonauts. He began his professional career as a running back before moving outside to a slot back/receiver role.
Very productive at both positions, Amerson racked up a total of 6,298 receiving yards and caught 37 touchdown passes, while adding 1,654 rushing yards and eight ground scores over his eight seasons in the CFL. His top season saw him post 70 receptions for 1,198 yards (17.1 yards per catch) and six scores in 2000.
He was also a factor on special teams as he garnered 1,935 kickoff return yards over a three-year span from 1998-2000, while netting an average of 20.8 yards per return.
Amerson was a member of Hamilton's 1999 Grey Cup Championship winning squad and was one of the most prolific receivers in Tiger-Cats' history, finishing his career ranked third in receptions, fourth in receiving yards, fifth in kickoff return yards and sixth in touchdowns.
Amerson is looking to join fellow NAU alum Rex Mirich (1959-63) as the second Lumberjack inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame. Mirich was enshrined in 2012 and played a total of seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a defensive lineman with the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos and Boston Patriots.
The announcement of the 2019 Class will be made on Monday, Jan. 7, 2019, in Santa Clara, Calif., which is the site of the 2019 College Football FBS National Championship. The Jan. 7 announcement will be televised live, and specific viewing information will be available at a later date. Several of the 2019 inductees will participate in the pregame festivities and the coin toss before the championship game.
The 2019 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be voted on by more than 12,000 National Football Foundation (NFF) members and current members of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Votes will be tabulated and submitted to the NFF's Honors Courts, which will deliberate and select the class. The FBS Honors Court, chaired by NFF Board Member and College Football Hall of Famer Archie Griffin from Ohio State, and the Divisional Honors Court, chaired by former Marshall head coach, longtime athletics director and NFF Board Member Jack Lengyel, include an elite and geographically diverse pool of athletic administrators, Hall of Famers and members of the media.
The 2019 class will officially be inducted during the 62nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 10, 2019, at the New York Hilton Midtown. They will also be honored at their respective schools with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the 2019 season.
The College Football Hall of Fame is located in Atlanta, Ga.
The Criteria for Hall of Fame Consideration Include:
• First and foremost, a player must have received First-Team All-America recognition by a selector organization that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise their consensus All-America teams.
• A player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation's Honors Courts 10 full seasons after his final year of intercollegiate football played.
• While each nominee's football achievements in college are of prime consideration, his post-football record as a citizen is also weighed. He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community and his fellow man, with love of his country. Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether the candidate earned a college degree.
• Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years.* For example, to be eligible for the 2019 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1969 or thereafter. In addition, players who are playing professionally and coaches who are coaching on the professional level are not eligible until after they retire.
• A coach becomes eligible three full seasons after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years of age. Active coaches become eligible at 75 years of age. He must have been a head coach for a minimum of 10 years and coached at least 100 games with a .600 winning percentage.
*Players who do not comply with the 50-year rule may still be eligible for consideration by the Football Bowl Subdivision and Divisional Veterans Committees.
Once nominated for consideration, all player candidates are submitted to one of eight District Screening Committees, depending on their school's geographic location, which conducts a vote to determine who will appear on the ballot and represent their respective districts. Each year, approximately 15 candidates, who are not selected for the Hall of Fame, will be named automatic holdovers and will bypass the district screening process and automatically appear on the ballot the following year. Additionally, the Veterans Committee may make recommendations to the Honors Court for exceptions that allow for the induction of players who played more than 50 years ago.
Of the 5.26 million individuals who have played college football since Princeton first battled Rutgers on Nov. 6, 1869, only 997 players have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, or less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of those who have played the game during the past 149 years. From the coaching ranks, 217 individuals have achieved Hall of Fame distinction.
