Two Former Penn State Offensive Linemen Among Nominees for 2020 College Football Hall of Fame

Two Penn State legends will be included on ballots for the 2020 College Football Hall of Fame class. Steven Wisniewski and Jeff Hartings, two of the best offensive linemen in program history, are among 76 FBS player nominees for the upcoming class. The 2020 class will be announced in January, just prior to the National Championship Game, with an induction ceremony scheduled for Dec. 8, 2020.

Wisniewski and Hartings each contributed to some of the best team’s in Penn State’s storied history. Wisniewski earned a national championship ring in 1986, where he helped D.J. Dozier earn first-team All-American honors by rushing for 811 yards and 10 touchdowns during the regular season. The following year, Wisniewski paved the way for Blair Thomas to have one of the best single seasons for a Penn State running back. Wisniewski would go on to earn first-team All-American honors for himself in 1988 before being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys with the first pick of the second round in the 1989 NFL Draft. He was then traded to the Oakland Raiders, where he spent all 13 years of his NFL career.

Hartings was a two-time All-American, and was a star of the vaunted 1994 Nittany Lions offense that remains cited as one of the most explosive in college football history. He was a consensus first-team All-American in 1995, and went on to become a first round pick in the 1996 NFL Draft where the Detroit Lions took him 23rd overall. Hartings played guard and center for Detroit and Pittsburgh during an 11-year NFL career that included two Pro Bowls.

Current Penn State defensive tackle Judge Culpepper’s father, Brad Culpepper, is also a nominee. The elder Brad Culpepper was an All-American defensive tackle at Florida, where he still holds the school record for TFLs by a defensive lineman.

View the full list of nominees.