Skip to main content
ole-miss logo

Former Ole Miss lineman Michael Oher named to 2024 College Football Hall of Fame ballot

11by:Jake Thompson•06/05/23•

JakeThompsonOn3

South Carolina v Mississippi
Michael Oher #74 of the Ole Miss Rebels in action against the South Carolina Gamecocks during their game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 4, 2008 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Matthew Sharpe/Getty Images)

Another former Ole Miss player could soon find immortality in the College Football Hall of Fame and join a list of other Rebels.

On Monday it was announced that former Ole Miss lineman Michael Oher was named to the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 ballot. Oher joins 78 other former FBS college players and nine former FBS college coaches.

While Oher reached national status beyond the football field with the Oscar-winning movie ‘The Blind Side,’ which chronicled Ohers journey to Ole Miss after growing up in Memphis. He was a two-time All-American and three-time All-SEC honoree while starting 47 consecutive games at Ole Miss from 2005-08.

Oher is just one of 13 consensus All-Americans in Ole Miss football history with his consensus honor for his senior season in 2008.

In 2008, Oher was one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy for best lineman in the nation, as well as one of three finalists for the Conerly Trophy and one of 12 semifinalists for the Rotary Lombardi Award. Oher also won the 2008 Jacobs Blocking Trophy from league coaches for best blocker in the SEC, as well as the 2008 Shug Jordan Award as the Southeast Offensive Lineman of the Year from The Touchdown Club of Atlanta.

As a blocker, Oher helped lead the way for consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons for running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis in 2006 and 2007. Oher still ranks fourth all-time in career starts (47), and in 2019 he was named to the Next Great 25 Team that included players from 1993-2018 to commemorate 125 years of Ole Miss Football.

Related: Jaxson Dart to represent Ole Miss as a counselor for 2023 Manning Passing Academy

After a strong collegiate career Oher was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens as the 23rd overall selection in the 2009 NFL Draft. He spent eight seasons in the NFL that included stops in Baltimore and the Carolina Panthers.

The announcement of the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2004 will be made early next year.

Ole Miss currently has 12 former players in the College Football Hall of Fame. Oher could join former teammate and linebacker great Patrick Willis who was the latest Rebel to be inducted, going in as part of the Class of 2019.

Ole Miss in the College Football Hall of Fame

  • Bruiser Kinard (1951)
  • Charlie Conerly (1965)
  • Barney Poole (1974)
  • John Vaught (1979)
  • Doug Kenna* (1984)
  • Thad “Pie” Vann** (1987)
  • Archie Manning (1989)
  • Parker Hall (1991)
  • Jake Gibbs (1995)
  • Charlie Flowers (1997)
  • Wesley Walls (2014)
  • Patrick Willis (2019)

* Kenna was inducted as an Army player; was on the 1941 Ole Miss freshman team with fellow hall of famers Conerly and Poole
** Vann was inducted as a Southern Miss coach; played at Ole Miss from 1926-28 and was captain of the ’28 squad

You may also like