By Joey Jones and Bret Strelow for App State Sports. BOONE, N.C. — Record-setting, title-winning App State quarterback Armanti Edwards is included on the 2024 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in his first eligible year.
The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame on Monday announced a candidate list that includes 78 players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and 101 players and 32 coaches from the divisional ranks, which include FCS standouts.
The ballot was emailed Monday to the more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers, whose votes will be tabulated and submitted to the NFF’s Honors Court, which will deliberate and select the class. The announcement of the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2024.
Edwards, who wasn’t eligible for inclusion until he had officially retired from professional football, played for App State from 2006-09 and spent 12 years in pro football after being a third-round selection in the 2010 NFL Draft.
Edwards became the first Division I player (FBS or FCS) with more than 10,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards in his career.
During his four years in Boone, Edwards was a four-time first-team All-American, the first two-time FCS National Player of the Year (Walter Payton Award) and a two-time national champion who went 42-7 as a starter, including the historic 34-32 upset of No. 5 Michigan to open App State’s 2007 championship season. The Mountaineers went 28-2 in conference games with three unbeaten runs to league titles in his four seasons.
Edwards amassed 14,753 yards of total offense in his career (10,392 passing with 4,361 rushing) and 139 total touchdowns (74 passing with 65 rushing) while helping lead App State to a 48-9 record from 2006-09 with back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007.
Edwards became the first Division I player (FBS or FCS) with more than 10,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards in his career and currently has only one other player (Colin Kaepernick of Nevada) as company on that list.
Edwards remains an FCS record holder for career rushing TDs by a quarterback and most seasons with 3,000-plus yards of total offense (four seasons, tied for first with Steve McNair) while ranking No. 2 in career rushing yards by a QB and No. 4 in career total offense.
His four first-team All-America honors from 2006-09 include first-team recognition from the Associated Press in 2008 and 2009.
Edwards posted single-game highs of 433 passing yards (still a school record) and 313 rushing yards (in a 2007 FCS semifinal win to currently rank No. 2 in single-game rushing yards by an FCS quarterback and No. 2 by any App State player, broken in 2020). In the upset of Michigan, he accounted for four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) and 289 yards of total offense (227 passing, 62 rushing).
App State currently has three players/head coaches who have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: linebacker Dexter Coakley (2011 induction), head coach Jerry Moore (2014 induction) and head coach Mack Brown (2018 induction). Fisher DeBerry, who was an App State assistant before becoming a successful college head coach, was inducted in 2011.
