NEW YORK CITY -- National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame chairman Archie Manning announced on May 15th the names of the 2012 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision Class, which includes 14 First Team All-America players and three legendary coaches.

The 17 inductees, all of whom will officially enter the Hall at the 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City's Waldorf-Astoria on Dec. 4, were selected from a national ballot of 76 candidates which had been culled from a pool of hundreds of eligible nominees.

The three coaches are Phillip Fulmer, 152-52-0 (74.5%), Tennessee (1992-08); Jimmy Johnson, 81-34-3 (70.0%), Oklahoma State (1979-83) and Miami (Fla.) (1984-88); and R.C. Slocum, 123-47-2 (72.1%); Texas A&M (1989-02).

The players are: Charles Alexander, TB, LSU (1975-78); Otis Armstrong, HB, Purdue (1970-72); Steve Bartkowski,  QB, California (1972-74) ; Hal Bedsole, SE, Southern California (1961-63) ; Dave Casper, TE, Notre Dame (1971-73); Ty Detmer,  QB, BYU (1988-91) Tommy Kramer,  QB, Rice (1973-76) ; Art Monk, WR, Syracuse (1976-79) ; Greg Myers,  DB, Colorado State (1992-95) ; Jonathan Ogden, OT, UCLA (1992-95) ; Gabe Rivera, DT, Texas Tech (1979-82) ; Mark Simoneau, LB, Kansas State (1996-99) ; Scott Thomas, S, Air Force (1982-85) ; and John Wooten,  OG, Colorado (1956-58) , who was selected by the FBS Veterans Committee.

NASDAQ Senior Vice President Bob McCooey, College Football Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson, NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Steve Bartkowski stand at Times Square before the 2012 College Football Hall of Fame announcement ceremony which was held on May 15th at the NASDAQ OMX MarketSite in Times Square, site of the event for the past four years. NFF photo.

"We are extremely proud to announce the 2012 College Football Hall of Fame Class," said Manning, a 1989 College Football Hall of Famer from Ole Miss. "Each year the selection process becomes increasingly more difficult, but Gene Corrigan and the Honors Court do an amazing job of selecting a diverse group of the most amazing players and coaches in our sport's rich history. This class is certainly no exception, and we look forward to honoring them and celebrating their achievements throughout the year ahead."

The 2012 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Class will be honored guests at the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on January 2, 2013 and officially enshrined in the summer of 2013.

Here are some of the aggregate achievements of this year’s Class:
• 11 consensus First Team All-Americans (Alexander - 2x, Armstrong, Bartkowski, Bedsole, Casper, Detmer - 2x, Kramer, Myers, Rivera, Simoneau, Thomas)
• one unanimous First Team All-American (Ogden)
• three multi-year First Team All-Americans (Alexander - 2x, Detmer - 2x, Myers - 2x)
• two members of national championship teams (Bedsole, Casper)
• one Heisman Trophy winner (Detmer)
• three winners of college football major awards (Detmer - Maxwell, O'Brien; Myers - Thorpe; Ogden - Outland)
• five conference player of the year honorees (Alexander, Armstrong, Detmer, Kramer, Simoneau)
• five members of conference championship teams (Bedsole, Detmer, Myers, Ogden, Thomas)
• two NFF National Scholar-Athletes (Casper, Myers)
• seven first-round NFL draft selections (Alexander, Armstrong, Bartkowski - 1st overall, Kramer, Monk, Ogden, Rivera).

The trio of coaches also compiled some impressive statistics during their respective tenures:
• two national championships (Fulmer, Johnson)
• six conference championships (Fulmer - 2, Slocum - 4)
• 33 bowl berths (Fulmer - 15, Johnson - 7, Slocum - 11)
• 28 Top 25 finishes (Fulmer - 13, Johnson - 5, Slocum - 10)
• 45 First Team All-Americans coached (Fulmer - 19, Johnson - 12, Slocum - 14).

Manning listed the following criteria for election to the Hall: 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.

2. A player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation's Honors Courts ten years after his final year of intercollegiate football played.

3. 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 fellow man. Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether or not the candidate earned a college degree.

4. Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the past 50 years (although the Veterans Committee can make exceptions). In addition, players who are playing professionally and coaches who are coaching on the professional level are not eligible until after they retire.

5. A coach becomes eligible three years 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.

Including the 2012 FBS class, only 914 players and 197 coaches, have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 4.86 million who have played or coached the game over the past 143 years. Founded in 1947, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame inducted its first class of inductees in 1951, a total of 32 players and 19 coaches, including Illinois' Red Grange, Notre Dame's Knute Rockne, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Carlisle's Jim Thorpe.

The Hall is located in South Bend, Indiana but there has been a concerted effort to build a new facility and move this shrine to college football to Atlanta, Georgia.

Tags: Archie Manning, College Football Hall of Fame, Dave Casper, Jimmy Johnson, National Football Foundation, Phil Marwelll