The Oregon Ducks are historically well represented in the College Football Hall of Fame, with seven inductees across the school’s storied football history.
However, the team’s successes over the past two decades is hardly visible in the Hall at this point, with coach Mike Bellotti (inducted in 2014) as the only representative who wore the green and yellow this century.
[lawrence-related id=25070]
That could change this year, as the 2023 Hall of Fame ballot was released on Monday, with 80 former players and nine former coaches on the list – including a pair of Oregon legends: running back LaMichael James and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata.
This article will make the case for why Ngata, widely considered one of the greatest Ducks of all-time, should be among those inducted in the Class of 2023.
Haloti Ngata’s Hall of Fame Case
Oregon’s reputation over the past two decades has largely been earned on the offensive side of the ball, thanks to the explosive quarterback and running back play during the end of the Bellotti era and into the coaching tenures of Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich.
When defensive players are discussed they are often members of the secondary; guys like Patrick Chung, Walter Thurmond, and more recently Ugo Amadi and Jevon Holland.
[lawrence-related id=25070]
But perhaps the greatest defensive Duck of all time, and one of the greatest of all time, is Haloti Ngata.
Ngata became Oregon’s first consensus All-American since 1962 when he was honored after his ridiculously excellent 2005 season. He was Oregon’s first-ever Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, and his name is all over the record books for both the school and the conference.
While NFL accomplishments should not play a role in determining a player’s College Hall of Fame candidacy, it is worth noting Ngata made good on his No. 12 overall selection by Baltimore in the 2006 NFL draft, getting named to five Pro Bowls and winning a Super Bowl with the Ravens and their vaunted defense.
Ngata is one of the pillars of Oregon’s ascent into college football’s hierarchy, and he deserves consideration for the game’s highest honor.
[listicle id=24998]
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=none image=https://duckswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]