Chet Moeller was humbled to learn he was a candidate for the College Football Hall of Fame. “I was proud just to be put on the ballot. That was a great honor,” he said.
The former Naval Academy great was shocked when he returned home one day to find a commemorative football bearing his name. That is how the National Football Foundation notifies Hall of Famers that they’ve been inducted into the shrine.
Jenny Moeller had picked up the football from Federal Express earlier in the day and could not wait for her husband to see it. He had planned to go straight from work to a church meeting, but his wife came up with the ruse that he had to stop by the house first to pick up some paperwork.
“I walked in and saw the football and asked Jenny what it was. She said come over and take a look at it,” Moeller recalled. “When I realized what it meant I just broke down and cried. It was a very emotional moment for me and my wife.”
By all accounts, Moeller was most deserving of the honor, having revolutionized the position of safety during a spectacular three-year varsity career at Navy. He accumulated 275 tackles from 1973-75 and is widely considered the finest defensive player to ever suit up for the Midshipmen.
Moeller set a single-season school record with 25 tackles for loss in 1974 then was named a consensus first team All-American in 1975. He was also chosen East Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year as a senior.
“Chet truly set the standard for how to play safety. He was unafraid to go full-speed and sacrifice his body in order to blow up a blocker or make a tackle,” said Andy Bushak, a linebacker who played alongside Moeller for three seasons. “We were in awe ourselves of some of the things Chet did. On kickoff coverage, he would singlehandedly break up the wedge.”
