Alabama Sports Hall of Fame announces Class of 2022 (2024)

In his first year of retirement after 17 seasons as an NFL quarterback, Philip Rivers can add another honor to his list. The former Athens High School star is among the eight members of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022.

The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame announced its next slate of eight inductees on Thursday. In addition to Rivers, the Class of 2022 includes baseball players Doyle Alexander, Rusty Greer and Jake Peavy, basketball player Keith Askins, football players William Andrews and Justin Tuck and current Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy.

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The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame’s 54rd annual induction banquet and enshrinement ceremony will be held on May 7 in the Birmingham Ballroom of the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel. The Class of 2022 will increase the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame’s membership to 385.

A closer look at the Class of 2022:

DOYLE ALEXANDER: A native of Cordova and a Woodlawn High School standout, Alexander pitched in 19 Major League seasons, compiling a record of 194-174 with a 3.76 earned-run average in 3,367.2 innings. Alexander pitched for eight teams, and at his last stop earned a spot on the American League All-Star team in 1988 with the Detroit Tigers. During the previous season, Alexander had been traded to Detroit by the Atlanta Braves, and he went 9-0 in his new uniform as the Tigers surged to the AL East pennant. Similarly in 1976, he had been traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the New York Yankees during the season and went 10-5 with the Bronx Bombers to reach the World Series. Alexander’s top season might have been 1984, when his 17-6 record for the Toronto Blue Jays led the American League in winning percentage.

WILLIAM ANDREWS: With the enshrinement of Andrews, Auburn’s backfield from the 1977 and 1978 seasons can now boast of three Alabama Sports Hall of Fame running backs, with Andrews joining former teammates James Brooks and Joe Cribbs. As a fullback for the Atlanta Falcons, Andrews started his NFL career like a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, too. Only in the strike year of 1982 did Andrews fail to reach 1,000 rushing yards in his first five NFL seasons, when he earned four Pro Bowl invitations. Because Andrew also was a superior pass-catcher out of the backfield, he piled up more yards from scrimmage in his first five seasons than any player in NFL history had, and only four players since have managed to exceed his 8,394. Andrew tore three ligaments in his knee at training camp in 1984, and the injury ruined his football career, although he made it back to the field for 15 games in 1986.

KEITH ASKINS: Like Rivers, Askins is a former Athens High School standout. In his four seasons at Alabama, the Crimson Tide won the SEC basketball tournament title in 1987, 1989 (when Askins was on the All-Tournament team) and 1990 and played in the NCAA tournament three times. Alabama reached the Sweet 16 in the 1987 and 1990 tournaments, knocking off second-seed Arizona in the Round of 32 in the 1990 event. Although he went unselected in the NBA Draft, Askins forged a nine-season career as a small forward with the Miami Heat and served as a team captain for four years. His 486 games rank fifth in the Heat’s history. Askins transitioned from playing to coaching in Miami in the 1999-2000 campaign and spent 14 seasons as an assistant for the Heat, including on three NBA championship teams. He’s now Miami’s director of college and pro scouting.

RUSTY GREER: From Albertville High School and the University of Montevallo, Greer went on to a nine-season MLB career as a left fielder that landed him in the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. Playing for the Rangers from 1994 through 2002, Greer hit .305 in 1,027 games for Texas. Greer drove in at least 100 runs in the 1996, 1998 and 1999 seasons, scored more than 100 runs in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and hit better than .300 five times. Greer’s 643 runs, 1,166 hits and 614 RBIs still rank in the top 10 on the Rangers’ career lists.

PATRICK MURPHY: Alabama’s softball coach joined the Crimson Tide as an assistant in 1996. Since becoming the head coach in 1999, Murphy has guided Alabama into the NCAA tournament annually, with the Tide reaching the Women’s College World Series 13 times. In 2012, Alabama became the first SEC team to win the Women’s College World Series. The five-time SEC Coach of the Year has had six conference regular-season and five league tournament championship teams while compiling a 1,147-318 record at Alabama.

JAKE PEAVY: On the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time this year, the former St. Paul’s Episcopal star already has an induction ceremony on his schedule for next year. The San Diego Padres selected Peavy in the 15th round of the 1999 draft, and he picked the pros over Auburn. Peavy reached the big leagues in 2002 and pitched through the 2016 campaign, playing in eight seasons with San Diego, five with the Chicago White Sox, three with the San Francisco Giants and two with the Boston Red Sox. In 388 regular-season games, including 377 starts, Peavy compiled a 152-126 record with a 3.63 earned-run average. Peavy was an All-Star selection for the Padres in 2005 and 2007 (when he was the National League’s starting pitcher for the All-Star Game) and the White Sox in 2012, won the NL Cy Young Award in 2007 (when he captured the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins, earned-run average and strikeouts), earned a Gold Glove Award as the American League’s best fielding pitcher in 2012 and pitched for two World Series winners.

PHILIP RIVERS: The current football coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Rivers was a record-setting quarterback at North Carolina State before entering the NFL. With the Wolfpack, Rivers was the ACC Player of the Year in 2003 and the conference’s Athlete of the Year in 2004. The fourth player picked in the 2004 NFL Draft, Rivers was traded by the New York Giants for the first player picked, Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning, who had balked at playing for the San Diego Chargers. After two seasons as Drew Brees’ backup, Rivers became the Chargers’ starting QB in 2006, and he started every game of his career after the 2006 season opener – 240 regular-season and 12 playoff games in a row (spending his final season with the Indianapolis Colts). Among NFL quarterbacks, only Brett Favre posted a longer streak as a starter. An eight-time Pro Bowl selection, Rivers completed 5,277-of-8,134 passes for 63,440 yards with 421 touchdowns and 209 interceptions in 244 regular-season games. Rivers left the NFL ranked fifth in completions, passing yards and touchdown passes in league history.

JUSTIN TUCK: An All-State tight end in 1999 and the Class 4A Player of the Year in 2000 at Central-Coosa, the Kellyton native also led the Cougars to the AHSAA Class 4A boys’ basketball championship in 2001. Tuck went to Notre Dame as a linebacker, but after a switch to defensive end, he set Fighting Irish records for single-season and career sacks. Tuck joined the New York Giants as a third-round choice in the 2005 NFL Draft. He played on two Super Bowl winners as the Giants capped the 2007 and 2011 seasons by earning the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Tuck had four sacks in the Super Bowl victories. He was an All-Pro defensive end in 2008, selected for the Pro Bowl again in 2010, recorded 66.5 sacks during his NFL career and joined the Giants Ring of Honor in 2016. Tuck played in 11 NFL seasons, spending the final two with the Oakland Raiders.

For more information or to purchase tickets for the banquet and enshrinement ceremony, contact the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame at (205)323-6665.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.