Month: January 2020

The Board of Directors of the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame is proud to announce that Brodie Croyle will be the inaugural recipient of the Starr-Sullivan Achievement Award at the 52^nd Annual Induction Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, May 2, 2020.

Brodie Croyle was born on February 6, 1983 in Rainbow City, AL. As quarterback at the University of Alabama from 2002-2005, Croyle was MVP of the Cotton Bowl during his senior season and a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. He was drafted 85^th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2006 NFL Draft where he played five seasons before finally closing the book on his football career. 

Croyle serves as Executive Director of Big Oak Ranch, a Christian home for children needing a chance. Founded by his father, John Croyle, in 1974, Big Oak exists to serve orphaned, abused, abandoned and neglected children and has been home to more than 2,000 children.

Named in honor of two extraordinary men from Alabama, Bart Starr and Pat Sullivan, the Starr-Sullivan Achievement Award recognizes a former collegiate quarterback that exhibits exemplary character and has made a significant contribution in his community.

The 52^nd Induction Banquet and Ceremony will be held in the Birmingham Ballroom, at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, on Saturday, May 2, 2020. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Museum at (205) 323-6665.

The Board of Directors of the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame is proud to announce that Don Hawkins will be recognized as the 2020 Frank “Pig” House Award recipient at the 52^nd Annual Induction Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, May 2, 2020.

The Frank “Pig” House Award is given to someone who has performed outstanding service to sports in Alabama, and whom the Board of Directors feels worthy of special recognition. The award is named after the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame’s first Chairman of the Board who was instrumental in the founding of the Hall of Fame.

Don Hawkins has played an instrumental role in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and its banquet operations since the first class was inducted in 1969. Hawkins assisted Chairman Frank “Pig” House with the first banquet program; and over the past 51 years, he has coordinated everything from inductee travel arrangements, to memorabilia curation. In the early 1980s, he worked on the team that designed the original ASHOF Museum in Birmingham. The ASHOF would not be what it is today without his selfless contributions.

He joins a distinguished list of others who have been honored by the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame as Frank “Pig” House Award recipients. They are: Sammy Dunn (2004), Avalee Willoughby (2007), Buddy Anderson (2014), and Emanuel “Tubb” Bell IV (2017).

The 52^nd Induction Banquet and Ceremony will be held in the Birmingham Ballroom, at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, on Saturday, May 2, 2020. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Museum at (205) 323-6665.

The Board of Directors of the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame is proud to announce that Paul Finebaum will be recognized as the 2020 Mel Allen Media Award recipient at the 52^nd Annual Induction Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, May 2, 2020.

The Mel Allen Media Award was created to honor media members in the State of Alabama who have made a lifetime contribution to sports through their work as a media member. The award is named after the 1974 ASHOF Inductee Mel Allen, of Birmingham, who was known as the “Voice of the New York Yankees” for two decades.

Paul Finebaum is a longtime sports talk radio host known by many as a leading sports authority in the South. He joined ESPN in August 2013 as host of the The Paul Finebaum Show. In addition to hosting The Paul Finebaum Show, he serves as a weekly analyst on SEC Nation, the traveling pregame show for the SEC Network. He also appears on a variety of other ESPN shows and outlets, including SportsCenter, College Football Live, College GameDay and in ESPN The Magazine. Prior to joining ESPN, Finebaum served as host of the Paul Finebaum Radio Network (2001-2012). Finebaum arrived in Birmingham in 1980 and became an award-winning columnist and investigative reporter for the Birmingham Post-Herald and later the Mobile Press-Register. From 2011-2012, Finebaum wrote a college football column for Sports Illustrated. In January 2012, Bleacher Report named Finebaum one of the “25 Most Influential People” in college football. Finebaum is a 1978 graduate of the University of Tennessee and resides in Charlotte with his wife.

Finebaum joins a distinguished list of others who have been honored by the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame as Mel Allen Media Award recipients. They are: John Pruett (2014), George Smith (2014), Tom Roberts (2015), Ron Ingram (2017), and Cecil Hurt (2019).

The 52^nd Induction Banquet and Ceremony will be held in the Birmingham Ballroom, at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, on Saturday, May 2, 2020. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Museum at (205) 323-6665.