When you talk to most Nebraska football fans, they are usually surprised that Roger Craig isn't already in the NFL Hall of Fame. Craig is so synonymous with the San Francisco 49ers' dynasty under Bill Walsh that most people think all of the major players of that era are already enshrined. As Hail Varsity reports, that was certainly the case for a fan of the former Husker great, Leisa Knudsen.

Knudsen and Craig attended high school together, though they didn't really know each other that well. Still, his exploits as a high school, college, and eventual professional football player were memorable enough for her that when she realized he hadn't already gotten the call to go to the Hall of Fame.

When she did indeed realize it was something that needed to be done, she decided to take it on.

The petition

Knudsen turned to the website iPetitions.com in order to get the ball rolling. The thing to note is that this isn't a situation where she's gotten any kind of guarantee that he'll get in should she get the goal of 2,500 signatures. But it certainly can't hurt for Canton to see there is grassroots support for the former Nebraska football player.

While making her case for why Craig needs to be a Hall of Famer, she certainly lays out some very good arguments. There's the fact that Craig was the first player in NFL history to run for 1,000 yards and catches passes for 1,000 yards in the same season. That was 1985 when he ran for 1,050 yards and nine touchdowns while catching a whopping 92 passes for 1,016 yards and another six touchdowns.

He's also the first player to score three touchdowns in a Super Bowl. That was also 1985 when the San Francisco 49ers were champions thanks to a 38-16 score. Yes, Roger Craig outscored the Miami Dolphins all by himself. He ran for 58 yards and a touchdown in that game, while also leading the team in receptions with seven, for 77 yards and two touchdowns.

The argument here is that clearly, the former Nebraska football star was someone who performs well in the spotlight, against the best competition the NFL has to offer. That in, and of itself, is a very good argument for a call to the hall.

Coming out of nowhere

One of the most interesting thing about Craig's career in the NFL (spanning eight years with the 49ers, two years with the Minnesota Vikings and one year with the Oakland Raiders)( is that his receiving skills especially weren't something Nebraska football fans likely saw coming. He certainly put up solid stats in Lincoln, especially his junior year when he ran for 1,060 yards and six touchdowns. The year before he logged 15 touchdowns on 769 yards.

Still, Craig had never had more than 12 catches in a season for the Nebraska football team. Yes, most of that is because the Huskers simply didn't throw the ball all that much under Tom Osborne in the 1980s. When Roger Craig put his mind to learning how to catch the ball, while still being a heck of a running back, he succeeded in a big way.

At the time of publication, Knudsen's petition is steadily receiving signatures, sitting at just over 1,300 people. That means it's a little more than halfway there. It's a safe bet that Nebraska football fans will rally around the idea of getting Roger Craig into the Hall of Fame and show the NFL how much support he has.
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