Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB. Once that is done, we will examine how each team honors its past players, coaches, and executives. As such, it is important to us that the University of Mississippi will be inducting six new members to their Athletic Hall of Fame.

They will be officially inducted on November 7, and two days later, they will be introduced to the crowd during the Rebels' home game against Georgia.

The Class of 2024 is:

Jonathan Randolph, Men’s Golf, 2008-11.  Randolph was a four-year letterman who took Mississippi to the NCAA Tournament in all his years.  He won three individual tournaments and had 15 top-5 finishes.  A First Team All-American in 2010, Randolph won four times as a pro.

Christi Strini Song, Women’s Soccer, 2004-07.  In 2005, Strini Song was the first All-American in school history, and that year, she led them to a place in the NCAA Tournament.  The two-time SEC Selection had 15 career Goals and 19 career Assists.

Chris Spencer, Football, 2002-04.  Spencer played mostly at Center for the Rebels and helped them win the 2002 Independence Bowl and 2004 Cotton Bowl, the latter of which saw Ole Miss co-win the SEC West.  He would play ten seasons in the NFL, playing for Seattle, Chicago, and Tennessee.

Roger Stieg, Men’s Basketball, 1980-83.  Stieg was part of the first Ole Miss team to play in the NCAA Tournament (1981), and he also took them to three NITs.  He averaged 7.9 Points and 4.6 Rebounds over his 121 Games.

Todd Wade, Football, 1996-99.  Wade was an Offensive Tackle in three bowl-winning teams (1997 Motor City, 1998 & 1999 Independence).  He later played professionally for Miami, Houston, and Washington.

Rick Zibilich, Baseball, 1975-78.  Zibilich won 22 Games as a Pitcher for the Rebels, and he helped his school win the first ever SEC Championship Tournament.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the impending members of the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame.

Drafted in 2004 with the first overall pick by the San Diego Chargers, Eli Manning did not want to play for the Bolts, and he was quickly traded to the New York Giants, where he would play his entire career.  A four-time Pro Bowl Selection, he would take the Giants to two Super Bowl Championships, both against the heavily favored New England Patriots, the first of which was when the Pats were undefeated going into the big game.  Notably, he was Super Bowl MVP in both title games.

He retired with 57,023 Passing Yards with a TD-INT ratio of 366-244.  At the time of his retirement, Manning was seventh in Passing Yards, seventh in Completions (4,895), and seventh in Passing Touchdowns (366).  These are good numbers, but he was never in the top three in any of them, and he led the NFL in Interceptions three times.  Also, his highest finish in Passer Rating was seventh (2011), and he never had another top-ten finish.  This was the same for Completion Percentage, with only one top-ten finish, a ninth in 2010. 

Manning will likely be the most polarizing Hall of Fame candidate if he isn't already.  Peyton's younger brother is a two-time Super Bowl Champion, but was never a First or Second Team All-Pro, and has a .500 record as a starter.  We expect this to have the most comments of any first-year eligible player in 2025.

Behind the depth chart to Brent Jones, Wesley Walls did not see a lot of action with the San Francisco 49ers, although he did win a Super Bowl with them (XXIV) and caught a pass in the big game.  Walls was injured through 1992 and 1993, and he would sign with the New Orleans Saints as a Free Agent, where he played well for two seasons, but it was with their division rival, the Carolina Panthers, where he would see his greatest success.

From the University of Mississippi, Larry Grantham was a second-round pick by the New York Titans in 1960 (a 15^th-round pick in the NFL) and a member of the original team. 

Grantham would be a great choice for the Titans (soon to be Jets), as he was one of the best linebackers the organization ever had and the backbone of their defense throughout the 1960s.  The tackling factory went on an immediate streak of five First Team All-Pro Selections, with Second Team Selections in three of the next four seasons.  He was part of the Jets' shocking Super Bowl III win, and the tackling machine spent 13 years with the Jets, where he was a model of consistency.

The New York Giants were a dominant force in the NFL during the late 1950s and early 1960s, with a championship win under their belt. However, the incredible contributions of one of their star players, Jimmy Patton, have largely been forgotten.

Patton's skills on the field were undeniable, and he really began to shine during the Giants' 1956 championship win. He continued to improve and impress, leading the league with 11 interceptions in 1958. This marked the first of his five consecutive First Team All-Pro selections and five Pro Bowl appearances, with Patton playing a pivotal role in the Giants' impressive six post-seasons.

Despite his impressive achievements, including a championship title, Jimmy Patton's once-illustrious football career has faded with time. Despite being a standout player with 51 career picks, he has not been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and the odds of that happening seem slim, especially given that he was never even a finalist.

Many entries on this list discuss the difficulty of comparing offensive statistics from the 1960s and 1970s to today's inflated numbers. This is even more true when you look at the stars of the 1950s. Charlie Conerly, the Quarterback of the New York Giants during the 1950s, was on the final ballot multiple times but dropped off seemingly for good after 1980.

Conerly was the Giants QB throughout the 1950s and consistently ranked near the top annually in touchdown passes and quarterback rating. While those numbers would not be considered huge by today's standards, they were more than acceptable for that era. He was popular with fans and teammates and showed flashes of brilliance throughout his career.  His overall numbers of 19,486 passing yards, a TD-INT ratio of 173-167, and a role in the 1956 NFL Championship are awfully good for his era.

It is likely that had he led the NFL in more offensive categories during his career, he would have had a better shot at enshrinement. Since he was not even chosen as a semifinalist for the 2020 Centennial Class, it appears that the window for Charlie Conerly to enter Canton may have closed for good.