Inside the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, GA
If you are in Atlanta and a sports fan, then you need to spend an afternoon visiting the College Football Hall of Fame in Downtown.
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Inside the College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is pretty technology savvy, as one would expect being so close to the campus of Georgia TECH.
When you get your ticket, they will present you with an All-Access Pass. It has a small RFID chip in it that will give you access to a lot of cool features throughout the Hall.
Once you get inside, the first thing you’ll do is register with your name, email address, and your favorite team.
Hint: If you are going in a group, have each person register for a different team to see special features about each team as you go through the Hall. Not everyone needs to be on the same team (so pick your second favorite if you have to).
After you register, look up at the wall of helmets. It has each NCAA team up there. Find your favorite team! There will be a small light to help you find it after you register.
Once you are registered and check out the Wall of Helmets, head on up the stairs behind the helmets to the third floor.
But stop on the way up at the viewing portal to take a look at an awesome mural of everything college football. See how much you can pick out that represents your team and your rivals.
History at the Hall
The top floor at the Hall will give you some general background on college football.
What it means to be a football player. This first area is a lead in to get you ready for some football.
But then you step into the Hall of Fame…
In the actual “Hall of Fame” you get to see profiles, including videos, of the members of the Hall of Fame.
Grab one of the rotating displays and find your favorite players. For the more recent players, like say a Calvin Johnson, you can see clips of their best plays in the video profiles.
(And yes, I do remember that catch in the back of the end zone against Clemson in 2004… one of the best comebacks in college football history on the road in a hostile environment)
Make sure you rotate the displays around to see the entire profile. Things tend to hide at the edges, so to speak.
Your All-Access Pass will default to the players from your favorite team as you selected at registration. You can search for players outside of your favorite school. You’ll just have to go through some menus to find them.
All The Football Trophies
Once you are done in the Hall, it’s time to go down to the second floor.
You start with a display of all the greatest trophies – like the Playoff Championship Trophy, the Heisman Trophy, and more!
See that screen behind the Heisman Trophy? That’s a cool video montage board that changes based on who is near it. There are sensors nearby that will pickup your All-Access Badge to show video clips that are going to be interesting to you!
Make sure to catch the special message from the Chick-Fil-A cows (another Atlanta area institution).
From there, head into the Game Day Theater for a short video, about 10 minutes long.
When you are done with this video, you’ll be ready to strap on a helmet and make some tackles. Or at least cheer on your favorite team!
I went the week before the college football season started, and let me just say, I was ready for some football after watching this video. I even went back and watched it again (my friend Dan, who went with me missed it the first time).
What’s Football Without Fans and Tailgating?
The next section is specially for us, the tailgaters! And yes, it even has some interesting tidbits for RV tailgaters!
See how tailgating has evolved from the back of the car to the modern day grilling and RV setups.
And yes, that’s my friend Dan giving some grilling tips to the mannequin. Behind him are pictures of various tailgating rigs in their game day finest.
For the interactive portions, you can sing your fight song. You can appear on College Game Day and make your picks for the day. You can play coach and decide where the players will go.
As you continue through the second floor, you’ll see displays on coaching family trees, sports nutrition, equipment and safety.
The equipment section is really interesting. See the evolution of things like helmets, jerseys, and other protective equipment.
This is the area where you can really get bogged down if you are in a hurry. There are lots of things to read, study, and learn in this section.
I swear, I had to drag Dan out of there just so we could finish the second floor before the Hall closed for the day. I didn’t realize just how bad he was about reading every single word of every single display. And there are a lot of words here!
Continuing on, there are more displays about rivalries in college football. And some more sports science and a virtual reality center. And a be the broadcaster – where you can call some of the most iconic plays in college football.
Kick, Punt, Pass
Once you are finished with the second floor, you get to descend to the bottom floor.
Sure, you saw the helmet wall when you came in. But now you get to try your hand at throwing a football. Can you hit the target?
Or how about kicking? Can you make the field goal?
The last section (well, the last section before the gift store at least) is a truly interactive and physical portion of the your of the College Football Hall of Fame.
This is definitely a section that you’ll want to save time for if you want to test your football skills. The kids will love it!
The final stop, is the gift shop. Because you need some gear to commemorate the occasion, right?
Where is the College Football Hall of Fame?
The College Football Hall of Fame is conveniently located in the downtown Atlanta area, near the Mercedes Benz Stadium, home of the Atlanta Falcons (NFL) and Atlanta United (MLS), as well as the Georgia High School Football State Championship Games, the SEC Championship Game, the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, and the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl Kickoff Games, and Philips Arena State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks (NBA).
The Hall is also near some other quintessential Atlanta attractions like the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coke, Centennial Olympic Park, CNN Center, and the Ferris Wheel. Oh, and the Georgia World Congress Center, which hosts many a cheerleading, volleyball, and other middle and high school competitions.
In other words, this is the epicenter of the Atlanta sports scene.
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The Atlanta CityPASS
Like I said above, the College Football Hall of Fame is smack dab in the middle of all things Atlanta.
And the College Football Hall of Fame is good for an afternoon of browsing through the history of college football.
But if you are spending more time in Atlanta, then it would be wise to get a Atlanta CityPASS.
In addition to seeing the College Football Hall of Fame, you can see the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola, and tour CNN Studios to see how the news is made. All four of these locations are right there in the downtown area within a stone’s throw of each other.
Then you can jump over to Zoo Atlanta or the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
How Long to Use the CityPASS?
Don’t worry, you don’t have to do everything in one day!
You get nine days from the first day of use to go to all the attractions.
Because that’s way too much to do in one day.
Save over Standard Ticket Prices
With the Atlanta CityPASS you save 41% over standard ticket prices, if you bought each attraction separately.
That’s pretty cool savings that you can spend on tailgating!
RV Parking for the College Football Hall of Fame
If you are planning on going to the College Football Hall of Fame or any of the other nearby downtown Atlanta attractions, be warned, RV parking is quite limited.
After all, you are in downtown Atlanta!
Your best bet is going to be the Marshalling Yard at the Georgia World Congress Center. It’s a 10 minute or so walk to the Hall of Fame and other nearby attractions.
If you’ve been to football games at Mercedes Benz Stadium, you probably did your RV tailgating in the Marshalling Yard…
The Marshalling Yard has a parking attendant and it should be manned all the time. If you are visiting the Hall when there is not a major event going on in the area, you should be able to pay by the hour for your RV parking without reservation.
See Also: Tips for RV Driving in Atlanta
Plan Your Visit to Atlanta’s College Football Hall of Fame Now!
The College Football Hall of Fame is definitely worth a visit when you are in Atlanta.It’s family friendly and will entertain football fans, from the most casual to the most die-hard of fans.
On most days, it’ll take about half a day to go through without feeling rushed and to be able to see everything.
Like most museums and other attractions, it is best to go during the week if you want to avoid crowds.
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