Kent Stephens, long-time curator and historian for the College Football Hall of Fame, offers his list of 11 things a fan should not miss on a first visit to the attraction’s new home in downtown Atlanta:
1. Football from the 1897 Pennsylvania vs. Harvard game: At Penn's legendary Franklin Field, the Quakers beat Harvard 15-6 on their way to an unbeaten 15-0 season and the national championship.
2. A 1901 helmet: Called "head harnesses," the first helmets were introduced in 1893. Early headgear offered little protection, and not all players chose to wear it.
3. The trombone made famous at the end of the 1982 Cal vs. Stanford game: Cal's Kevin Moen ran through the Stanford band with the winning score, crashing into Cardinal trombone player Gary Tyrrell.
4. Jersey worn by Ohio State running back Archie Griffin: He is the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy and the first player to start in four consecutive Rose Bowls.
5. Jersey worn by Georgia's Charley Trippi: He was the the 1946 Heisman Trophy runner-up. For the season, he scored 14 touchdowns and led the Bulldogs to an 11-0 record.
6. ESPN "College GameDay" Desk: The desk allows fans to play the role of a sports broadcaster recording a "live" report from the "GameDay" set. The experience ends with fans choosing the winner of the big game while the mascot head of their favorite team is superimposed over their face, a la Lee Corso.
7. Theater: A theater experience takes fans inside game day from the perspective of former players and coaches. The ultra-high-definition film goes behind the scenes into game-day experiences from around the country, including locker- room access during pregame and halftime.
8. Augmented reality viewers of Hall of Famers: Fans stepping into the Hall of Fame gallery on the third floor are entering a revered space where architectural elements and media pay tribute to the greats of college football. Ten large screens, vertically mounted on posts that swivel nearly 360 degrees, stand around the center of the room with information on every inductee, including statistics, photos, videos and interviews.
9. The helmet wall: It consists of 768 helmets, one from every four-year institution that fields a football team, including FBS, FCS, Divisions II and III and NAIA programs.
10. Virtual stadium viewers: The virtual viewers place fans on the field or the sidelines in some of college football's iconic stadiums. Fans could find themselves in the middle of a marching band or on the 50-yard line as players take the field.
11. "Why We Love College Football" wall: Content such as photos and videos of players, fans, cheerleaders and marching bands, as well as other college and stadium imagery, fill 39 screens, inviting fans to interact with the 52-foot-long media wall. A multitouch system allows for interaction over the entire surface of the wall with content specific to the visitor's favorite team.
