SENIORBOWL.com :: Senior Bowl Hall of Fame

Sponsored by Regions Bank and Mobile Gas, the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame seeks to pay tribute to the many former Senior Bowlers who have made lasting contributions to the game of football.

The Senior Bowl Hall of Fame's Class of 2007 was officially inducted during a reception at the Country Club of Mobile on January 26, 2007. New inductee E.J. Junior, San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Nolan, new inductee Hines Ward, and Mobile Arts and Sports Association Chairman Vic Lott are all smiles following the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Football greats Kevin Mawae and Brian Urlacher will be honored with induction into prestigious group.

MOBILE, Ala. (January 15, 2008) -- Senior Bowl officials announced on Tuesday that two of the NFL’s biggest current stars – linebacker Brian Urlacher, the 2005 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and six-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman Kevin Mawae -- will make up the 2008 class of inductees into the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame, sponsored by Regions Bank and Mobile Gas.

In addition to the two-member 2008 class, game officials also announced that the NFL stars would be formally inducted during a reception at The Country Club of Mobile on Friday, January 25.

Both inductees will also be introduced to the crowd during pre-game ceremonies prior to the 2008 Under Armour Senior Bowl game set for Ladd-Peebles Stadium on January 26.

“When you consider that our Hall of Fame represents just the top two percent of the over 4,000 outstanding collegiate and NFL stars who have played in the Senior Bowl since 1950, it puts into perspective just how special this group really is,” said Senior Bowl President Steve Hale. “We have an outstanding pair of inductees this year in Brian and Kevin, two of the biggest stars in the NFL today.”

Established in 1988, the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame, sponsored by Regions Bank and Mobile Gas, seeks to pay tribute to the many former Senior Bowl players, coaches and administrators who have made lasting contributions to the game of football.

A total of 89 of the most recognizable names in football history have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since its inception, and the list includes players such as Joe Namath, Walter Payton, Sam Huff, Bo Jackson, Dan Marino and Brett Favre, just to name a few.

New Senior Bowl Hall of Fame inductee Hines Ward receives his award from Regions Bank Senior Vice President Bill Seifert.

Mobile Gas Senior Vice President Bill Coffeen welcomes E.J. Junior to the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame.

Urlacher, the 2005 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and Chicago Bears linebacker, has been one of the game’s premier defensive players since entering the NFL eight seasons ago.

Urlacher brought his unique talents to the 2000 Senior Bowl following an All-American career at the University of New Mexico where he played safety, wide receiver and also returned kickoffs and punts. After playing linebacker for the first time in his career during Senior Bowl Week 2000, he became the ninth overall selection in the first-round of the NFL Draft by the Bears.

He has now been selected to six NFL Pro Bowl squads in eight seasons, while registering 965 career tackles, the most ever for a Bears player in his first eight years.

Named the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2000, he was also the Bears’ first rookie Pro Bowler since 1990. During the 2006 season, he recorded 185 total tackles and helped lead the Bears to an appearance in Super Bowl XLI.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Nolan, Hall of Fame inductee Hines Ward, former NFL head coach and current NFL Network announcer Dick Vermeil, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden during the 2007 Senior Bowl Hall of Fame induction reception.

A four-time All-SEC selection at LSU who played guard, center and tackle during his collegiate career, Mawae starred in the 1994 Senior Bowl before becoming a second-round selection in the 1994 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks.

He quickly developed into one of the NFL’s premier centers, earning first-team All-Rookie honors in 1994, and would start for the next four seasons with the Seahawks. He spent the next eight years with the New York Jets, for whom he enjoyed six straight NFL Pro Bowl seasons from 1999-2004.

In 2005, he took his talents to the Tennessee Titans, where his leadership, veteran savvy and athleticism has played a pivotal role in the development of the Titans’ offense and second-year quarterback Vince Young, enabling the Titans to make the playoffs for the first time in four seasons in 2007.

Tickets to the 2008 Under Armour Senior Bowl sell for $24, $18 and $12 each and can be purchased online through the bowl’s website at www.seniorbowl.com or by calling the ticket office at 251-432-4109.

Class of ...	Inductees ...
1988 Charter Class	Joe Greene, Lee Roy Jordan, Steve Largent, Joe Namath, Walter Payton, Pat Sullivan, Jim Taylor, Travis Tidwell
1989	Gene Upshaw, Ed Jones, Ozzie Newsome, John Stallworth, Jack Youngblood
1990	Paul Brown, Tucker Frederickson, Jerry Kramer, Neil Lomax, Wellington Mara, Finley McRae, Jack Pardee, Rea Scheussler
1991	Morten Andersen, James Brooks, Dave Butz, Weeb Ewbank, Doug Williams
1992	Franco Harris, Mike Holovak, Sam Huff, Dan Marino, Don Shula, Pat Swilling
1993	Cornelius Bennett, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Ralph "Shug" Jordan, Tom Landry, Lynn Swann, Marty Schottenheimer
1994	Robert Brazile, Rickey Jackson, Mark Rypien, Jim Simpson
1995	Bob Baumhower, Pat Dye, Bo Jackson, Gene Washington
1996	James Lofton, Kellen Winslow, Dick Steinberg
1997	Bob Hayes, Sterling Sharpe, Doak Walker
1998	Ray Nitschke, Jim McMahon, Thurman Thomas
1999	Tom Banks, Dale Carter, Paul Krause, Albert Lewis, Randall McDaniel, Art Monk, E.B. Peebles, Jr., Derrick Thomas, Roger Wehrli
2000	Hanford Dixon, Brett Favre, Chuck Howley
2001	William Andrews, Ron Jaworski, Eddie Robinson
2002	Todd Christensen, Bert Jones, Steve McNair
2003	Terry Beasley, Jeremiah Castille, Ted Hendricks
2004	Derrick Brooks, Christian Okoye, Richard Todd
2005	Larry Allen, Al Del Greco, Ray Perkins
2006	Curtis Martin, Tony Nathan, Michael Strahan
2007	E.J. Junior, Jake Plummer, Hines Ward