For months, Kent Stephens has been unpacking the history of college football.
It arrived at his office on two tractor-trailers, each full of cardboard boxes containing treasures.
And there are stories in almost every box.
Stephens, the longtime historian and curator of the College Football Hall of Fame, estimates the boxes contain 5,000 artifacts and 15,000 publications, all shipped here from Dallas, where they had been stored since the Hall of Fame’s former home in South Bend, Ind., closed in December 2012.
The Hall of Fame’s artifacts cover a wide spectrum. There are jerseys of famous players, helmets that tell the story of the evolution in equipment, game balls from momentous events, shoes or other gear worn by players during record-breaking feats.
Stephens opened one box and pulled out a Heisman Trophy, opened another to find a jersey Red Grange wore in the 1920s, opened another that contained dirt dug from the site of an 1869 game. And then there was a box holding the most famous trombone in college football lore.
The Hall of Fame is on schedule to open in about 100 days, just in time for football season in downtown Atlanta. As construction continues on the 94,000-square-foot facility, many of its eventual contents are stored in a room inside at the Georgia World Congress Center near the future home of the $66.5 million facility across Marietta Street from Centennial Olympic Park.
About the Author
