Photo by: Ian McFarland/UO Athletics
"Dominant" Ngata Enters College Hall of Fame
12/09/25 | Football
Defensive lineman Haloti Ngata becomes the seventh former UO football player inducted into the NFF College Hall of Fame.
LAS VEGAS — By December of 2003, defensive lineman Haloti Ngata of Oregon had been recovering from a major knee injury for two months. The injury would keep him from playing in the Ducks' bowl game that month, against Minnesota at the Sun Bowl.
His absence was a setback for the Ducks. But one guy who didn't mind it was the Golden Gophers' center that season, Greg Eslinger.
Because Ngata had been hurt early in the 2003 season, "we didn't see a lot of film on him," recalled Eslinger, a four-year starter who earned the first of three straight first-team all-Big Ten honors in 2003, before going on to win the Rimington Trophy as the nation's best center as a senior in 2005. "But we saw him (at the bowl game) and were like, oh crap, who's that? Do we have to actually play this guy?"
The Ducks had other accomplished defensive tackles on that team, including Junior Siavii and Igor Olshansky, to start in place of Ngata. And so, Eslinger said, "we still had our hands full. But we were very happy we didn't have to play him."
Eslinger recalled that near-miss of a battle with Ngata on Tuesday, where by coincidence both men were being introduced as members of the newest National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame class. They were formally inducted later in the day, during the NFF's annual awards dinner at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino.
Ngata found out in January that he was selected for the 2025 College Hall of Fame class, in a vote of former players and coaches. A plaque honoring his selection was unveiled outside Autzen Stadium in November, and he was recognized on the field during the Ducks' win over USC that same weekend.
"Sometimes I still can't believe it — like, is this really happening?" said Ngata, who attended Tuesday's ceremony with his wife, Christina, and their four sons. "It's just amazing to be recognized. I was just very blessed."
Ngata, a native of Salt Lake City, became the seventh former UO football player to enter the College Hall of Fame. They're joined by former Oregon coaches Hugo Bezdek, Len Casanova and Mike Bellotti, Ngata's head coach with the Ducks.
Ngata was recruited to Eugene by former UO assistant Mike Gillhamer, and his position coach was long-time UO assistant and program alum Steve Greatwood. Both were invited to join Ngata in Las Vegas for Tuesday's banquet, as were former teammates including offensive linemen Enoka Lucas and Palauni Ma Sun, and defensive linemen Matt Toeaina and Chris Solomona.
"It's the people that you're surrounded with — your teammates, your coaches, your friends — and the countless hours of workouts and training," Ngata said. "All that pays off."
Greatwood, he said, "is what I needed at Oregon for a coach, to know my potential and push me harder than anyone else. Because he knew what I was capable of."
The combination of Ngata's potential and Oregon's coaching yielded one of the most disruptive players in UO football history. Ngata racked up 151 tackles including 24.5 tackles for loss between 2002-05, earning consensus all-America honors in his last year while being named Pac-10 defensive player of the year.
Ngata went on to be a first-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2006, and won a Super Bowl ring with them in 2013.
By coincidence, another of this year's College Hall of Fame inductees, Urban Meyer, also avoided facing Ngata in 2003 because of his knee injury. Meyer was then in his first season as head coach at Utah, which faced the Ducks in October.
"He was the talk of the town," Meyer recalled Tuesday. "We beat Oregon, and I'm not sure we beat Oregon if he was in there. That's how good he was.
"Dominant. He was a dominant player in college football."
His absence was a setback for the Ducks. But one guy who didn't mind it was the Golden Gophers' center that season, Greg Eslinger.
Because Ngata had been hurt early in the 2003 season, "we didn't see a lot of film on him," recalled Eslinger, a four-year starter who earned the first of three straight first-team all-Big Ten honors in 2003, before going on to win the Rimington Trophy as the nation's best center as a senior in 2005. "But we saw him (at the bowl game) and were like, oh crap, who's that? Do we have to actually play this guy?"
The Ducks had other accomplished defensive tackles on that team, including Junior Siavii and Igor Olshansky, to start in place of Ngata. And so, Eslinger said, "we still had our hands full. But we were very happy we didn't have to play him."
Eslinger recalled that near-miss of a battle with Ngata on Tuesday, where by coincidence both men were being introduced as members of the newest National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame class. They were formally inducted later in the day, during the NFF's annual awards dinner at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino.
Ngata found out in January that he was selected for the 2025 College Hall of Fame class, in a vote of former players and coaches. A plaque honoring his selection was unveiled outside Autzen Stadium in November, and he was recognized on the field during the Ducks' win over USC that same weekend.
"Sometimes I still can't believe it — like, is this really happening?" said Ngata, who attended Tuesday's ceremony with his wife, Christina, and their four sons. "It's just amazing to be recognized. I was just very blessed."
Ngata, a native of Salt Lake City, became the seventh former UO football player to enter the College Hall of Fame. They're joined by former Oregon coaches Hugo Bezdek, Len Casanova and Mike Bellotti, Ngata's head coach with the Ducks.
Ngata was recruited to Eugene by former UO assistant Mike Gillhamer, and his position coach was long-time UO assistant and program alum Steve Greatwood. Both were invited to join Ngata in Las Vegas for Tuesday's banquet, as were former teammates including offensive linemen Enoka Lucas and Palauni Ma Sun, and defensive linemen Matt Toeaina and Chris Solomona.
"It's the people that you're surrounded with — your teammates, your coaches, your friends — and the countless hours of workouts and training," Ngata said. "All that pays off."
Greatwood, he said, "is what I needed at Oregon for a coach, to know my potential and push me harder than anyone else. Because he knew what I was capable of."
The combination of Ngata's potential and Oregon's coaching yielded one of the most disruptive players in UO football history. Ngata racked up 151 tackles including 24.5 tackles for loss between 2002-05, earning consensus all-America honors in his last year while being named Pac-10 defensive player of the year.
Ngata went on to be a first-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2006, and won a Super Bowl ring with them in 2013.
By coincidence, another of this year's College Hall of Fame inductees, Urban Meyer, also avoided facing Ngata in 2003 because of his knee injury. Meyer was then in his first season as head coach at Utah, which faced the Ducks in October.
"He was the talk of the town," Meyer recalled Tuesday. "We beat Oregon, and I'm not sure we beat Oregon if he was in there. That's how good he was.
"Dominant. He was a dominant player in college football."
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