Chad Hennings, Emmitt Smith, Bruce Smith and Ahmad Rashad will be eligible for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame for the first time.
The National Football Foundation announced Thursday the names of 77 players and seven coaches who will be on the Division I-A ballot.
Former Broncos running backs Bobby Anderson (Colorado), Otis Armstrong (Purdue) and Rob Lytle (Michigan) are included on the ballot.
Hennings received the Outland Trophy in 1987, when he led the nation in sacks with 24 for the Air Force.
Emmitt Smith played for Florida from 1987-89 before becoming the NFL’s career rushing leader. Bruce Smith played defensive line for Virginia Tech before becoming the first overall NFL draft pick 1985.
Rashad was known as Bobby Moore when he played running back for Oregon from 1969-71.
Also appearing for the first time is quarterback Randall Cunningham from UNLV.
Troy Aikman, who played quarterback for Oklahoma (1984-85) and UCLA (1987-88) and will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, also is on the ballot.
The class of 2006 will be announced May 16 and inducted at the National Football Foundation’s awards dinner in December. To be eligible for the ballot, players must have been a first-team All-American by one of the national selectors used by the NCAA for their consensus All-America teams, last played college football 10 years ago, played within the last 50 years and be retired from professional football.
Former Broncos quarterback Mark Herrmann (Purdue) and former Wyoming running back Jim Crawford also were named to the ballot.
