University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Ken Norton Jr. (left) and John Lee (25)
Norton and Lee included on NFF Hall of Fame ballot
June 16, 2020 | Football
Ken Norton Jr. and John Lee were included on the 2021ย ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday by The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame. The ballot includes 78 players and seven coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 99 players and 33 coaches from the divisional ranks.
Nortonย was a member of four bowl-winning teams, including the 1986 Rose Bowl squad which posted a victory over Iowa, while playing linebacker at UCLA from 1984-87 on squads which produced an overall 36-10-2 record. The Bruins also earned a share of the conference title in the 1987 season after tying the school mark for wins with 10. Norton was the team's leading tackler in both the 1986 (106) and 1987 (125) campaigns and was a finalist for the 1987 Butkus Award. He earned All-America honors in 1987 after spearheading one of the nation's top defenses which recorded two shutouts that year and limited nine opponents to less than 20 points. He finished his Bruin career ranked fifth on the all-time school tackles list (339). Norton was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.
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Lee served as the Bruin placekicker in the 1982-85 seasons. He was named a first-team All-American in 1984 and a consensus first-team selection in 1985. At the conclusion of his career, Lee stood atop the NCAA, Conference and UCLA all-time lists for PATs and field goals. In 47 career games, he booted 85 field goals in 100 attempts and converted 135 of 136 extra point attempts, including a streak of 108 straight conversions. His list of NCAA records included most career field goals (85), field goal accuracy (86%) and most field goals in a season (32 in 1984). His 117 kicking points in 1984 is still the most in a single UCLA season. Lee's 390 career points still rates second on the all-time school list and he is tied on the UCLA list with Kai Forbath (2007-10) for the most career field goals (85). His 22 consecutive field goals made over the 1984 and 1985 seasons remains a school record. The 2.64 field goals per game average in 1984 remains an NCAA single-season record mark. Lee is tied for 8th on the all-time NCAA career field goals per game list (1.80 per game mark). He also holds the school record for most field goals in game - 6 vs. San Diego State in 1984 (tied for 2nd-most in a game on the NCAA record list). Lee was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
"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 ballot was emailed today 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.
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Nortonย was a member of four bowl-winning teams, including the 1986 Rose Bowl squad which posted a victory over Iowa, while playing linebacker at UCLA from 1984-87 on squads which produced an overall 36-10-2 record. The Bruins also earned a share of the conference title in the 1987 season after tying the school mark for wins with 10. Norton was the team's leading tackler in both the 1986 (106) and 1987 (125) campaigns and was a finalist for the 1987 Butkus Award. He earned All-America honors in 1987 after spearheading one of the nation's top defenses which recorded two shutouts that year and limited nine opponents to less than 20 points. He finished his Bruin career ranked fifth on the all-time school tackles list (339). Norton was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.
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Lee served as the Bruin placekicker in the 1982-85 seasons. He was named a first-team All-American in 1984 and a consensus first-team selection in 1985. At the conclusion of his career, Lee stood atop the NCAA, Conference and UCLA all-time lists for PATs and field goals. In 47 career games, he booted 85 field goals in 100 attempts and converted 135 of 136 extra point attempts, including a streak of 108 straight conversions. His list of NCAA records included most career field goals (85), field goal accuracy (86%) and most field goals in a season (32 in 1984). His 117 kicking points in 1984 is still the most in a single UCLA season. Lee's 390 career points still rates second on the all-time school list and he is tied on the UCLA list with Kai Forbath (2007-10) for the most career field goals (85). His 22 consecutive field goals made over the 1984 and 1985 seasons remains a school record. The 2.64 field goals per game average in 1984 remains an NCAA single-season record mark. Lee is tied for 8th on the all-time NCAA career field goals per game list (1.80 per game mark). He also holds the school record for most field goals in game - 6 vs. San Diego State in 1984 (tied for 2nd-most in a game on the NCAA record list). Lee was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
"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 ballot was emailed today 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.
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