Hall quizzed on Tressel's inclusion

The president and CEO of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame was left to answer some uncomfortable questions after the announcement of Jim Tressel and Brian Bosworth as future inductees into the Hall of Fame.

Tressel was nominated by Youngstown State but is still serving a five-year NCAA show-cause penalty for failing to report knowledge of impermissible benefits given to players at Ohio State.

"That was looked at closely," Steve Hatchell of the NFF and CFB HOF said Friday. "A lot of people felt he was a heck of a coach who cared for his guys. This wasn't shoot from the hip. It was all carefully considered."

In a statement released by Youngstown State, where he is now university president, Tressel said: "I am forever indebted to the outstanding student-athletes and coaches that have made this moment possible."

For years, Bosworth was held out of the Hall of Fame, in part because his college career ended with a suspension for admitting to performance-enhancing drug use.

"Those issues have been discussed a lot," Hatchell said. "For the most part the feeling was it was time."

Bosworth said he was fine with having to wait and appreciates the NFF considering character.

"You are to be the face of college football, and to have people refer to you as I want my son to be like or I would love my daughter to be coached under,'' he said. "The leadership roles that we have is the most paramount issue. Post your college career, how do you conduct yourself after that?''

Hatchell conceded that the Honor Courts that approve the Hall of Famers may be a bit more "open-minded" to further review of individuals with transgressions.

Hatchell could not specifically say, for example, how this might impact future consideration of players such as SMU's Eric Dickerson and USC's Reggie Bush. In the case of Bush, it is worth considering schools nominate players -- and at this point, USC is actually disassociated from Bush.

Others selected by the NFF to the Hall of Fame were:

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder

Nebraska linebacker Trev Alberts

Arizona State linebacker Bob Breunig

Millsaps defensive end Sean Brewer from Division III

Pittsburgh offensive tackle Rugen Brown

Florida split end Wes Chandler

Notre Dame split end Thom Gatewood

Yale running back Dick Jauron

Michigan state halfback Clinton Jones

Washington offensive tackle Lincoln Kennedy

Michigan running back Rob Lytle

Marshall quarterback Michael Payton

Texas Tech linebacker Zach Thomas

Kentucky defensive lineman Art Still

The latest Hall of Fame class will be inducted Dec. 8 at the NFF's awards dinner in New York.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.