BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Board of Directors of the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame is proud to announce that Buddy Davidson will be recognized as the 2025 Mel Allen Media Award recipient at the 57th Annual Induction Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, May 3, 2025.
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.
Buddy Davidson received his Bachelor’s degree in marketing from Auburn University in 1964. Before graduating, he had already worked as a football student manager and an assistant in the sports information department. Including his time as a student worker, Davidson served 50 years within the Auburn athletic department. As the sports information director, he worked with all members of the media covering Auburn athletics. During that time, he promoted and publicized Pat Sullivan in 1971 which led to Auburn’s first Heisman Trophy winner. Davidson was named an assistant athletic director in 1981 and took over the responsibilities of scheduling travel for football, administrative duties and assisting the director of athletics on special projects. Davidson retired from Auburn in 2006 but continued to attend every football game as he hadn’t missed one since 1957, the year of Auburn’s first national championship. The streak lasted 61 years and was capped off by Davidson attending his 700th consecutive game in 2017.
Davidson 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), Cecil Hurt (2019), Paul Finebaum (2020), Rubin Grant (2021), Mark McCarter (2022), Rick Karle (2023), and Randy Kennedy (2024).
The 57th Induction Banquet and Ceremony will be held in the Birmingham Ballroom, at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, on Saturday, May 3, 2025. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Museum at (205) 323-6665.
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