RICHMOND, Ky. – Former EKU All-American running back Markus Thomas is a candidate for the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation announced this week.
Thomas played at EKU from 1989-1992, earning All-American honors his senior season after running for 1,494 yards and scoring 17 rushing touchdowns. The two-time Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year (1991 & 1992), finished his career ranked third all-time in FCS history in rushing yards (5,149). He led Eastern Kentucky to two conference titles (1990 & 1991) while scoring 52 career rushing touchdowns.
Thomas is still the all-time leading career rusher in EKU and OVC history and also holds the conference record with a career rushing average of 6.57 yards per carry. The Cincinnati, Ohio native was inducted into the Eastern Kentucky University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.
The 2024 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame includes 179 players and 41 coaches.
"It's an enormous honor to just be on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot considering more than 5.62 million people have played college football and only 1,074 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 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class early next year."
The 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 66th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 10, 2024, and permanently immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. 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.
The criteria for Hall of Fame consideration includes:
First and foremost, a player must have received first-team All-America recognition by a selector organization that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise their consensus All-America teams.
A player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation's Honors Courts 10 full seasons after his final year of intercollegiate football played.
While each nominee's football achievements in college are of prime consideration, his post-football record as a citizen is also weighed. He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community and his fellow man, with love of his country. Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether or not the candidate earned a college degree.
