Blades, Torretta On College Football Hall of Fame Ballott

March 9, 2006

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Former Hurricane stars Bennie Blades and Gino Torretta were among 77 players and seven coaches who comprise the 2006 Division I-A ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

The ballot was mailed this week to more than 12,000 members whose votes will be tabulated and submitted to the National Football Foundation’s Honors Court, which selects the class. The 2006 Hall of Fame Class will be announced in New York on May 16 and inducted on December 5.

Blades was a safety and two-time first-team All-America selection (1986-87) consensus in 1986, unanimous in 1987. He received the Jim Thorpe Award while leading UM to a 12-0 national championship season in 1987.

Torretta earned unanimous first-team All-America honors in 1992 when he won the Heisman Trophy, the Davey O’Brien Award, the Maxwell Award and was named the Walter Camp Player of the Year. He led the Hurricanes to a the 1991 national championship.

The Hurricanes have two players already in the College Football Hall of Fame (Ted Hendricks and Don Bosseler) and two coaches (Jack Harding and Andy Gustafson).