Suh on College Football Hall of Fame Ballot

Nebraska great Ndamukong Suh is one of 79 players on the 2026 ballot for the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame.  Suh is included on the ballot in his first year of eligibility.

Suh had a dominant career at Nebraska from 2005 to 2009, capped by a 2009 season that is widely regarded as one of the best individual seasons in college football history. During his senior season Suh’s accomplishments included the following…

• He was the first defensive player to win the Associated Press College Player of the Year Award since the inception of the honor in 1998.
• Suh was the first defensive tackle invited to the Heisman ceremonies in New York since Warren Sapp in 1994. Suh's fourth-place finish in the voting tied for the best by a defensive lineman since Nebraska's Rich Glover was third in 1972. Suh also received the highest-ever point total for a fourth-place finisher and his 161 first-place votes were the most ever for an interior defensive lineman.
• Suh won the Outland Trophy for the nation's top interior lineman, giving Nebraska a nation-leading nine Outland winners (eight players).  Suh was the first Husker to win the award since offensive guard Aaron Taylor in 1997.
• Suh won the Rotary Lombardi Award to become the fifth Husker to win the award.
• Suh became the fourth Husker to sweep the Lombardi and Outland in the same season, joining Rich Glover (1972), Dave Rimington (1982) and Dean Steinkuhler (1983). At the time, Suh was just the 12th player to capture the Outland and Lombardi in the same season.
• Suh made a clean sweep of the national defensive player-of-the-year awards by winning the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. Suh was the first Husker to receive both of those awards, and he became just the fifth player to sweep those two awards, most recently Miami's Dan Morgan in 2000.
• In addition to the awards he won, Suh was also a finalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year and the Lott Trophy, and was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
• Suh was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by the league's coaches and every major outlet that chose a defender of the year. He was the first Nebraska defensive player to win Big 12 Player-of-the-Year honors since Grant Wistrom in 1996 and 1997.

As a senior, Suh led Nebraska in tackles for the second straight season with 85 tackles. He also became the first defensive lineman to lead Nebraska in tackles in consecutive seasons. He also led the team in tackles for loss (24), sacks (12), quarterback hurries (26) and blocked kicks (3). His 24 tackles for loss were second on the Nebraska season list, while his 12 sacks ranked third in school history. Suh's 10 pass breakups were second on the team and led the nation's defensive linemen. He also added his fourth career interception, an NU record for defensive linemen.

Suh also had a standout 2008 season, with 7.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss and two interceptions. Suh left Nebraska with his name prominently displayed in the Cornhusker record book. His 57 career tackles for loss are second in school history, while his 24 sacks rank fourth. He finished with 215 career tackles and a position-record 15 pass breakups. Suh’s six career blocked kicks are a record for defensive linemen and were one shy of the school record for blocked kicks by any player.

Suh will look to join 20 former Husker players and seven Nebraska coaches who are members of the College Football Hall of Fame. The announcement of the 2026 NFF College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2026, with specific details to be announced in the future.
 
The 2026 NFF College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted during the 68th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 8, 2026, at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino, and they will be honored at their respective schools with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the 2026 season.