Georgia State assistant football coach Joe Hamilton, who enjoyed a standout playing career at Georgia Tech, is among the 76 players and eight coaches who comprise the 2012 Football Bowl Subdivision Ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Hamilton, the runner-up for the 1999 Heisman Trophy, first appeared on the College Football Hall of Fame last year. He is entering his second season as Georgia State's running backs coach under head coach Bill Curry.
The ballot was mailed this week 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 Court, which deliberates and selects the class. Chaired by Gene Corrigan, a former ACC Commissioner and NCAA president, the 14-member NFF Honors Court includes an elite and geographically diverse pool of athletics directors, conference commissioners, Hall of Famers and members of the media.
"It's an enormous honor to just be on the ballot when you think that more than 4.86 million people have played college football," said NFF President & CEO Steven J. Hatchell. "The Hall's requirement of being a First Team All-American creates a much smaller pool of only 1,900 individuals who are even eligible to be on the ballot, so being in today's group of 76 names means an individual is truly among the greatest to ever have played the game, and we are proud to announce their names today."
The FBS Hall of Fame Class will be announced live in New York City during a noon press conference on May 15 and inducted at the 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 4, 2012 at the landmark Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
To be eligible for the ballot, players must have been named a First Team All-America by a major/national selector as recognized and utilized by the NCAA for their consensus All-America teams; played their last year of intercollegiate football at least ten years prior; played within the last 50 years and cannot be currently playing professional football.
A consensus first-team all-American at Georgia Tech in 1999, Hamilton won the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top quarterback while finishing second to Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne in the Heisman balloting. He was named the Atlantic Coast Conference's Player of the Year and Athlete of the Year for all sports.
The native of Alvin, S.C., started four years at quarterback at Tech, played in four bowl games and led the Yellow Jackets to 30 victories and a share of the 1998 ACC Championship. He was named MVP of the 1997 Carquest Bowl and co-MVP of the 1999 Gator Bowl, both of which Tech won. He is still Tech's all-time leader in passing yards, touchdown passes and total offense and holds numerous other records. He earned his degree from Georgia Tech in 2008.
