AUBURN, Ala. – Former Auburn linebacker Greg Carr is one of 78 players from the FBS to make the 2021 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, which was released Tuesday by the National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame.
Carr, who played for Auburn from 1981 to 1984, twice led the team in tackles and ranks second in program history with 453 career tackles. A three-time First Team All-SEC selection, he helped the Tigers capture the 1983 SEC championship and won all three bowl games he played in under head coach Pat Dye.
"When I think back about any success I have, I think back to Coach Dye, who instilled in us a confidence and a recipe for success," Carr said. "He basically gave us a blueprint - for those guys who were willing to listen - a blueprint for being able to be successful. And, it wasn't complicated. It was hard work, setting goals and working hard to achieve those goals."
In 1984, his final season on the Plains, Carr was the SEC's most decorated athlete. He was a consensus First Team All-American, the SEC's Lineman of the Year, a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete and a Lombardi Award nominee. Following that season, he was drafted in the sixth round, pick No. 160, by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1985 NFL draft. He played four seasons with the Steelers (1985-88).
Carr was later inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and represented Auburn on the 2010 SEC Legends class. This is his third appearance on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot (2018, 2020).
"It's an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.4 million people have played college football and only 1,027 players have been inducted," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "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. 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 2021 College Football Hall of Fame Class Presented by ETT early next year."
The 2021 ballot also includes former Auburn quarterback and assistant coach Larry Blakeney, who is nominated as the head coach at Troy where he remains the all-time winningest coach in Sun Belt history.
The ballot was emailed Tuesday to the more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers whose 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 announcement of the 2021 College Football Hall of Fame Class Presented by ETT will be made in early 2021, with specific details to be announced in the future.