The Senior Bowl Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 has deep Alabama football roots. The five-member class includes defensive lineman Marty Lyons and linebacker DeMeco Ryans from Alabama and wide receiver Roddy White from UAB.
Also joining the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame this year are quarterback Carson Palmer and safety Eric Weddle.
“We are excited to bring another accomplished group of Senior Bowl alums back to Mobile,” said Jim Nagy, the executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl. “Each of these men is among the greatest players in their respective NFL franchise’s histories, and we are thrilled to be honoring their incredible careers.”
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The Senior Bowl Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024, along with the Senior Bowl’s 2023 NFL Rookie of the Year selections, will be honored at the annual induction ceremony on June 30 at the Grand Hotel Golf Club and Spa in Point Clear.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua is the Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end YaYa Diaby and Rams outside linebacker Byron Young are the Co-Defensive Rookies of the Year.
In Lyons’ four seasons at Alabama, the Crimson Tide posted a 42-6 overall record and a 24-2 conference mark, won three SEC championships and captured the 1978 national crown, earned with a goal-line stand against Penn State in the Sugar Bowl with Lyons in the middle of it. Lyons earned consensus All-American honors in 1978, then went to the New York Jets with the 14th pick of the 1979 NFL Draft. He spent 11 seasons as a starter at defensive end or defensive tackle for the Jets, part of the New York Sack Exchange. Lyons won the NFL Man of the Year Award in 1984 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the Senior Bowl Committee for this great honor,” Lyons said in a release from the Senior Bowl. “It’s a privilege to represent the University of Alabama, the coaching staff, my teammates and the great fans of the Crimson Tide. Playing in the Senior Bowl provided me with an invaluable opportunity to showcase my talent against the best players in college football. The experience played a pivotal role in my journey to becoming a first-round pick of the New York Jets, where I spent my entire 11-year NFL career. Thank you and Roll Tide!”
An All-State player for Jess Lanier High School in Bessemer in 2001, Ryans was a unanimous All-American and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year for Alabama in 2005. He also won the Lott IMPACT Trophy, a national award presented to a top defensive player, with IMPACT standing for integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity. Ryans then was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year for the Houston Texans in 2006, starting a 10-year pro career than included two Pro Bowl selections. Ryans was the Pro Football Writers of America’s NFL Coach of the Year for the 2023 season in his first year guiding the Texans.
“Being from Alabama, it was a huge honor to get the invite and participate in the 2006 Senior Bowl,” Ryans said. “I’m thankful to have played my last collegiate game in front of my home state fans. This game provided me a pivotal opportunity as a draft prospect to prove myself against the best competition in college football. Now as a coach, I continue to follow the game closely to evaluate the top talent in the draft each year. This game helped me as a player many years ago, and it is still assisting players in reaching their dream of playing in the NFL”.
The Atlanta Falcons took White from UAB with the 27th pick in the 2005 NFL Draft after he led the Blazers to their first bowl appearance with 71 receptions for 1,452 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2004. White went on to become the Falcons’ all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. Along the way, White earned Pro Bowl recognition annually from 2008 through 2011 and was first-team All-Pro in 2010, when he led the NFL with 115 receptions and recorded the fourth of his six straight seasons with 1,000 receiving yards.
“Being invited to the Senior Bowl was special because it gave me an opportunity to compete against the best guys in the nation,” White said. “Doing well throughout the week in Mobile drastically improved my draft stock. I enjoyed learning an NFL playbook for the first time, and meetings with Jon Gruden were intense and full of energy.”
The Heisman Trophy winner in 2002, when he became the Pac-10′s career leader in passing yards as Southern Cal’s QB, Palmer entered the NFL as the No. 1 pick in the 2003 draft. The first player to pass for 4,000 yards in a season for three different NFL teams, Palmer’s 4,671 yards in 2015 remains the record for the Arizona Cardinals. A three-time Pro Bowler and the runner-up for the 2015 AP NFL MVP Award during his 14 NFL seasons, Palmer ranks 15th in NFL history with 46,247 passing yards.
“Getting an invite to the Senior Bowl was one of the big goals I set for myself as a college freshman,” Palmer said. “It was a proud moment, and I viewed it as the start of my professional career. Competing every day at Senior Bowl practices gave me an opportunity to see what my competitors looked like up-close and personal while also showing me things I needed to continue to work on and develop as a player. I’ll always remember the great week I had in Mobile.”
A two-way player at Utah, Weddle won the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2005 and 2006 before embarking on a 14-season NFL career. A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s, Weddle was a first-team All-Pro twice and a Pro Bowler six times while piling up 1,179 tackles and 29 interceptions. Weddle retired after the 2019 season, but he came back for the postseason of the 2021 campaign and helped the Los Angeles Rams win Super Bowl LVI.
“I am truly humbled by this honor,” Weddle said. “The Senior Bowl back in 2007 was a big steppingstone for my NFL career. Being on the same field with the best of the best and more than holding my own gave me the confidence that I belonged. Never in my wildest dreams would I consider myself a Hall of Famer, and I am beyond thankful.”
The fourth annual Senior Bowl Charities Celebrity Golf Classic will be held on July 1 at Lakewood Golf Club in conjunction with the Hall of Fame induction. The golf event pairs 22 foursomes with celebrities from the football world, including the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame inductees and Rookies of the Year.
Proceeds from the golf tournament will benefit the Mobile Baldwin Athletic Partnership, established in 2021. This program provides resources ranging from pants and jerseys to blocking sleds and video technology for underfunded public high school football programs in the two-county area.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.