Justin Blackmon Selected to College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024
(Oklahoma State University Athletic Media Relations and Sean Maguire contributed to this story.)
STILLWATER – I will give you Hart Lee Dykes as I saw Hart and I knew how athletic and electric that he was, but I will put Justin Blackmon right there with him and Blackmon had the advantage of playing in an offense that featured a heavy amount of wide open spread with a heavy lean to the throwing game. He had a guy with a rocket arm as his quarterback in Brandon Weeden and there were games, moments in games that are frozen in my mind as to how Blackmon took them over. There was no stopping him in that offense, no matter what coverage or how much you blitzed. He could kill you with the intermediate to deep passes, but if a team blitzed Weeden then a quick pass or a slant was just as effective with his ability to run the football like a running back. Now, richly-deserved, Justin Blackmon is going into the College Football Hall of Fame in the class of 2024.
Blackmon is one of 19 members of the newest class to be enshrined in the brick and mortar Hall of Fame located in Atlanta, Georgia. The announcement was made by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame live on ESPN as a leadup to the CFP National Championship Game.
“I was very fortunate, even with the offensive coordinator change with Dana Holgorsen coming in and changing the offense, Blackmon said of going to the spread, which opened things up for him. “It was just perfect time and lined up. It’s like they say the stars were aligned. We were all going all out.”
Blackmon was unquestionably the best receiver in America in both 2010 and 2011, winning the Biletnikoff Awards after both his sophomore and junior seasons. His 1,782 receiving yards in 2010 set an NCAA sophomore record, and his 20 touchdown receptions in 2010 were the seventh-most ever recorded.
It wasn’t just the numbers but the dramatic, explosive, dominant way in which he made plays. On a single Saturday he could fill up anybody’s top 10 plays of the day. Like listed earlier, he made awesome deep ball catches and then he made short catches that he turned into dynamic plays that went to the end zone.
Blackmon is the only two-time unanimous All-America selection in Oklahoma State history. He was the 2010 FBS leader in receiving yards per game and receiving touchdowns and named the 2010 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
As a junior in 2011, Blackmon was the primary focus of every defense that OSU faced, but he still made 122 catches for 1,522 yards with 18 touchdowns. His 122 receptions set the 13th-highest total in NCAA history and he was named offensive MVP of both the 2010 Alamo Bowl and the 2012 Fiesta Bowl.
Following his collegiate career, he was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, and had a solid rookie year. His issues with marjuana cost him his NFL career, but Blackmon never asked for people to feel sorry for him. He lives his life the way he chooses and has done a lot of good in his hometown of Ardmore without seeking any credit.
This last football season he was inducted into the Oklahoma State University Athletic Hall of Honor, and made this comment that really demonstrates the personality and attitude of Blackmon.
“Everybody from Oklahoma State, the people, the fans, the staff, everyone has been great to me over time,” Blackmon said of the atachment he has to the program and the community. “I expect nothing less, this is like family to me. I guess this is something that I’m not here over time nothing changes. To me when I come back here like this weekend, it is like I never left.”
Oklahoma State now has eight representatives in the College Football Hall of Fame – coach Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf (inducted in 1966), Bob Fenimore (inducted in 1972), Barry Sanders (inducted in 2003), Thurman Thomas (inducted in 2008), coach Jimmy Johnson (inducted in 2012), Leslie O'Neal (inducted in 2020), Terry Miller (inducted in 2022) and Blackmon.
Of the 5.71 million individuals who have played college football since Princeton first battled Rutgers on November 6, 1869, only 1,093 players and 233 coaches (including the 2024 electees) have been immortalized in the Hall. In other words, only two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of those who have played or coached the game have earned this distinction.
The 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 66th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on December 10 at Bellagio Resort & Casino. They will also be honored at their respective schools with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the 2024 season, and subsequently immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame, which is celebrating its 10th Anniversary in Atlanta in 2024.
Below is a complete list of the 2024 Class in the College Football Hall of Fame:
PLAYERS:
Justin Blackmon – WR, Oklahoma State (2009-11)
Paul Cameron – TB, UCLA (1951-53)
Tim Couch – QB, Kentucky (1996-98)
Warrick Dunn – RB, Florida State (1993-96)
Armanti Edwards – QB, Appalachian State (2006-09)
Deon Figures – CB, Colorado (1988, 1990-92)
Larry Fitzgerald – WR, Pittsburgh (2002-03)
Toby Gerhart – RB, Stanford (2006-09)
Dan Hampton – DT, Arkansas (1975-78)
Steve Hutchinson – OG, Michigan (1997-2000)
Antonio Langham – CB, Alabama (1990-93)
Randy Moss – WR, Marshall (1996-97)
Julius Peppers – DE, North Carolina (1999-2001)
Paul Posluszny – LB, Penn State (2003-06)
Dewey Selmon – NG, Oklahoma (1972-75)
Alex Smith – QB, Utah (2002-04)
Kevin Smith – CB, Texas A&M (1988-91)
Chris Ward – OT, Ohio State (1974-77)
Danny Woodhead – RB, Chadron State [NE] (2004-07)
COACHES:
Mark Dantonio – 132-74-0 (64.1%): Cincinnati (2004-06), Michigan State (2007-19)
Danny Hale – 213-69-1 (75.4%): West Chester [PA] (1984-88), Bloomsburg [PA] (1993-2012)
Frank Solich – 173-101-0: Nebraska (1998-2003), Ohio (2005-2020)