When Brian Bosworth is officially inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame later this year, he will become the 21st Sooner voted onto the prestigious list.
To be inducted, a player must have been selected to an NCAA-recognized All-American team and be 10 years removed from their last college football game. Furthermore, the player is not eligible for induction until they retire from professional sports.
Oklahoma could soon add several names to the 21 already in the Hall. The athletes from early Bob Stoops-era teams, including the 2000 National Championship squad, are becoming eligible as the decade passes. Sooners who played their last year of college football in 2004 can be voted into the Hall of Fame starting this year.
Let’s take a look at a few Oklahoma candidates for the College Football Hall of Fame.
1. Rocky Calmus
In three seasons starting at linebacker for Oklahoma, Rocky Calmus recorded 42 tackles for loss, including 17 his junior season. Calmus was a key defensive starter and captain on the 2000 National Championship team and was awarded consensus All-American honors alongside teammates Josh Heupel and J.T. Thatcher.
Calmus became the second Sooner in history to take home a Butkus Award, presented to the top linebacker in college football, in 2001 and the first since Brian Bosworth’s back-to-back campaigns in 1985-86. He also received All-American honors for the second-straight season.
Calmus was selected in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans, but retired from football after a string of injuries in 2005.
2. Tommie Harris
Defensive lineman Tommie Harris is one of the only Oklahoma players to start every game in his true freshman season, compiling 18 tackles for loss. In addition to two straight All-American honors in his sophomore and junior seasons. Harris won the Lombardi Trophy, given to the nation’s top defensive lineman, in his third and final year at Oklahoma in 2003.
Harris is known amongst Oklahoma fans for starring on the 2002 Sports Illustrated College Football Preview cover, which featured a photograph of the defensive lineman and a headline that read “So Good It’s Scary.”
The Chicago Bears drafted Harris in the first round with the 14th overall pick, where he spent seven years. In 2011, he retired as a member of the San Diego Chargers.
3. Mark Clayton
Oklahoma wide receiver Mark Clayton maintained a low profile for his first three years on campus from 2000-02. However, during the 2003 season, Clayton solidified himself into the annals of Sooners history with 83 receptions for 1,425 yards and 15 touchdowns, all new school records. His quarterback, Jason White, won the Heisman Trophy.
Clayton was awarded All-American honors in 2003 and 2004. In his senior season, he, along with White, led the Sooners to a second-straight National Championship game. The receiver finished with 3,241 yards, the most in Oklahoma history.
The Baltimore Ravens selected Clayton with the 22nd overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. He played his last season of professional football in 2010 as a member of the St. Louis Rams.
4. Josh Heupel
Snow College-transfer quarterback Josh Heupel was a relatively low-profile prospect when he came to Oklahoma in 1999. However, Heupel garnered All-American honors in 2000 along with AP Player of the Year and the Walter Camp Award on the way to Oklahoma’s first national championship in 15 seasons.
Heupel threw for over 3,000 yards in two seasons with the Sooners, finishing with 7,066 yards and 50 touchdowns. He was the Heisman-runner up in 2000, finishing less than 100 points behind Florida State’s Chris Weinke.
He was drafted in 2001 by the Miami Dolphins but never played a down of professional football. Heupel coached quarterbacks at Oklahoma in 2004 and 2006-2015.
5. Jason White
Oklahoma quarterback Jason White did not let one torn ACL stop him, nor did he let two. After two seasons sharing the starting job with Nate Hybl, White won the Heisman trophy in 2003 after a campaign marked by 3,846 yards and 40 touchdowns, becoming the fourth Sooner ever to do so. White led Oklahoma to an undefeated regular season and a berth in the national championship.
Although White’s stats fell slightly in his senior season in 2004, the resilient quarterback managed to toss 35 touchdowns along with 3,205 yards. His hometown of Tuttle, Okla. has honored his accomplishments on Owen Field with a watertower that reads “Home of Jason White/2003 Heisman Trophy Winner.”
Because of his numerous injuries, White was not selected in the 2005 NFL Draft. He eventually tried-out for the Kansas City Chiefs and signed with the Tennessee Titans, but never saw the field.
