There were a handful of players whose exclusion from the “real” College Football Hall of Fame prompted us here at SB Nation to consider making our own Hall of Fame. One of those players was Orlando Pace, an offensive lineman from Ohio State who has about as good an argument as you can have for being one of the best to ever play his position.
Ohio State’s Orlando Pace Inducted Into SB Nation College Football Hall Of Fame
Orlando Pace might not be in the real Hall of Fame, but he’s the first offensive lineman inducted into SB Nation’s Hall.Follow @SBNationCFB For more on Buckeyes football, visit Ohio State blog Land-Grant Holy Land, plus Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire and SB Nation Cleveland.
And since this has been a particularly tough insult for Ohio State fans like our own Land-Grant Holy Land to take, we’ll let LGHL Editor-in-Chief Luke Zimmermann make the case for Pace’s unanimous inclusion in the inaugural class of the SBN Hall.
No offensive lineman before and no offensive lineman since has been a Heisman finalist. Pace and Jonathan Ogden are widely considered the two best offensive linemen of all-time and happened to come to the peak of their powers around the same time. Pace allowed but two sacks during a three year career and started from his first day on campus until his last his junior season. Former all-Big Ten defensive lineman Matt Finkes would say of Pace “he was so frustrating to practice against I would go lineup on the other side of the line... So I could face Korey Stringer.” Pace is one of the three best offensive linemen of the last 30 years and it would be a crime to not include him as the actual hall’s already done.
Pace’s induction wraps up the selection committee’s offensive picks. Up next, the defensive side, followed by public voting for the remaining 10 spots.
For more on Buckeyes football, visit Ohio State blog Land-Grant Holy Land, plus Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire and SB Nation Cleveland.
The SB Nation College Football Hall of Fame is a summer project involving all of the network’s excellent college football blogs. Each community nominated five of its own for inclusion, with 10 of those nominees being inducted by our selection committee, which included reps from most FBS conferences. The inaugural class’ first 10 will be revealed Monday and Tuesday, while the remaining 10 will be chosen by public vote Wednesday and Thursday.
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