College Football Hall Of Fame To Move To Dallas?

I saw the announcement on the news last night, and ESPN is carrying the story now: NFL Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Emmitt Smith are part of a group looking to move the National College Football Hall of Fame from South Bend, Indiana to Dallas, Texas.

The group wants to relocate the Hall of Fame and put it next to the proposed Dallas Convention Center hotel in downtown Dallas. The convention center is to be voted on next month, and if approved, will help bring Dallas' into the 21st century as a convention and tourism destination. Having the National College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Dallas will only add to Dallas' rich football heritage, and will be an asset to the city. Along with The House That Doak Built (the Cotton Bowl), the Cotton Bowl Classic game, and the annual Red River Rivalry game between Oklahoma and texas, Dallas has long been the home of college football tradition. Placing the National College Football Hall of Fame in the heart of the State simply makes sense.

If the vote for the convention center hotel passes, we will be looking at putting the jewel of college football history in the center of football country.

The move could also bring another football game to Dallas, possibly a bowl game. The Cotton Bowl Classic will be moving to Arlington to be played in the Dallas Cowboy's new stadium next January, but it isn't too much of a stretch to see the College Football Hall of Fame sponsoring their own Hall of Fame bowl game. Now that the original Hall of Fame Bowl in Tampa, FL has become the Outback Bowl, this title is up for grabs. The involvement of Oklahoma State booster T. Boone Pickens in this group trying to move the Hall of Fame makes me think he has grander plans than just improving Dallas' appeal to tourists. Pickens has been involved in trying to get Oklahoma State annual games in Dallas for a while now, so it wouldn't surprise me if he was trying to form a bowl that could bring them here annually, too.