College Football Hall of Fame Snubs Thomas Again

The College Football Hall of Fame picked their latest inductees Tuesday. Names like Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel and Nebraska QB Tommy Frazier were finally given the nod, but there's still one name that continues to be left out of the Hall.

All-time sack leader Derrick Thomas of Alabama.

It's interesting, though, that the guy who tied his record -- Tedy Bruschi gets in -- but not Thomas. 

Thomas had 52 sacks in his college career -- 27 in one season -- and is a three-time first team All-American. That's viturally unheard in college football today, and yet, he hasn't gotten the nod from voters who job it is to anoint such luminaries.

My question is: Why?

I had a discussion today with a friend of mine, trying to figure out how Thomas, with such an illustrious career at such a high-profile university, has yet to be voted into the Hall of Fame.

He thinks it's a bias against Thomas due to the number of kids he had out of wedlock and/or how he died. Maybe so, but as I pointed out during our discussion, while Thomas was alive, I never heard one nasty thing said about the guy. Not one.

If it's a morals clause that's holding him back, then why is OJ Simpson still in the Hall? He's still somewhere else, too, and will be for a long time to come.

Could it possibly be that Thomas played football at Alabama and the voters are taking an anti-Tide attitude out on him?

OK, before you start saying that sort of assumption is just an example of 'Bama fans being paranoid, take note tht the media is also at a loss as to why Thomas is being snubbed. Look  at how long it took Alabama to get its first -- and only, to this point -- Heisman Trophy winner.

Look at how Alabama has dominated college football over the past few years and look who their current football coach is, whom many consider to be one of the most hated men in college football.

It's not impossible to think that, since the college football world is saturated with Alabama football these days, a Tide fan has license to wonder if there is a pushback towards anything associated with the program.

But how do you justify not electing a Pro Football Hall of Famer into the College Football Hall of Fame?

You can't. And that's the problem.