TOLEDO, Ohio -- Chuck Ealey was the perfect college
quarterback.
Playing for Toledo from 1969-71, Ealey set a record that still
stands, finishing his career 35-0 as a starter.
Yet "The Wizard of Oohs and Ahs" as he was nicknamed, has been
mostly forgotten outside northwest Ohio, despite three Mid-American
Conference player of the year awards and three bowl victories.
His accomplishments, though, won't qualify for a spot in the
College Football Hall of Fame because Ealey was never selected to a
first-team All-America list recognized by the National Football
Foundation.
Now his fans are pushing the foundation to change those rules so
that players who starred at mid-major schools have a better chance
of getting in the hall.
It's not just Ealey, now 57, who's left out by the foundation's
rules.
Quarterbacks Joe Montana, who played at Notre Dame, and
Syracuse's Donovan McNabb aren't eligible. Former Miami, Ohio star
Ben Roethlisberger and Marshall's Chad Pennington won't be eligible
either.
"There's a lot of names people would be very surprised about,"
said Ealey, who didn't know about the Hall of Fame's requirements
until two years ago.
He's clearly uncomfortable about being the face of the campaign
to change the rules. He has never worried about whether he'll get
in the Hall of Fame.
"Even if they change the rule they might not choose me to be
there," he said. "So be it."
The rules punish players at low-profile schools who are less
likely to make first-team All-America over a player at a bigger
school, said Rick Longenecker, one of two Toledo graduates pushing
to get Ealey in the hall of fame.
He wants the National Football Foundation to change its criteria
so that a player who finished in the top 10 in Heisman voting would
have a chance at the hall.
That would give players at schools in conferences such as the
Mid-American and Western Athletic a better chance at the hall of
fame, Longenecker said.
The football foundation did expand the election process in 1996
to include players and coaches from NCAA Divisions I-AA, II and
III, and NAIA.
Players and coaches who meet the requirements must go through a
screening process. Members of the football foundation vote on the
finalists, but the final decision rests with a select committee
called the honors court.
A message seeking comment about the requirements was left with
the football foundation.
The hall of fame will induct 14 new members on Tuesday,
including 1984 Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie.
It has never been Ealey's style to draw attention to himself.
Or complain about a slight.
He didn't do that when other colleges recruiting him insisted
that he play defensive back. Bo Schembechler wanted him to do that
at Miami in Oxford.
Few schools showed interest even though his high school team
went 18-0 with Ealey at quarterback in Portsmouth, in southern Ohio
along the Ohio River.
Toledo was the only school that saw him as a quarterback.
The Rockets stumbled through a 5-4-1 season when Ealey arrived
on campus in 1968. Freshmen weren't eligible to play their first
year then.
The next season, the scrambling, strong-armed quarterback led
the Rockets to their first undefeated season and first bowl game.
As the winning streak continued over the next two seasons,
people nationwide took notice. Toledo climbed as high as No. 12 in
The Associated Press Top 20.
Still, the Rockets were playing at a time when few games were
televised and they still were in the shadows of Ohio State, which
won two Big Ten titles at the time.
Ealey maintained he never felt pressure to keep the streak going
or feared losing.
"I lost at basketball, I lost at baseball, I lost track," he
said. "I lost other sports so I knew what it was like to lose."
In the last few years, Southern California's Matt Leinart and
Miami's Ken Dorsey came close to matching the record, winning 34
straight.
Ealey finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1971 and
was named to the third team on The Associated Press' All-America
list that year.
He was selected a first-team All-American by the Football News,
but the college Hall of Fame did not recognize that list at the
time.
Some have suggested that race may have been the reason why
Ealey, the first black quarterback to start for Toledo, didn't
receive more attention. Not Ealey.
"I don't think that played into the postseason honors at all,"
he said. "It had more to do with playing at a smaller school
during an era when few college games were on television."
Ealey wasn't drafted by any NFL teams after his senior year. He
sent a letter to the teams, telling them he wanted to play
quarterback. They wanted him to play defensive back or wide
receiver.
Instead, he played six seasons at quarterback in the Canadian
Football League, winning the league's rookie of the year and the
Grey Cup in the same season.
Ealey still lives in Canada and is a financial adviser near
Toronto where he and his wife are enjoying their grandkids -- and
not worrying about how he's remembered.
Getting into the hall of fame would mean more to his teammates
or his school, he said.
"Life is good," Ealey said.
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On the Net:
National Football Foundation: http://www.footballfoundation.com/
Campaign for Chuck Ealey: http://www.inductchuck.com/