NEW YORK, N.Y. - Sean Brewer, a former Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and Millsaps College gridiron great, will officially be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this evening during the 58th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.
The only defensive lineman in Division III history to earn First Team All-America honors three times, Brewer established himself as the most dominant defender in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) and Millsaps College history. Tonight, he will be inducted as a member of the 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Class among the likes of Bill Snyder, Ricky Williams, and Brian Bosworth. He becomes the first Major to enter the College Football Hall of Fame.
One of only five players in Division III history to be named a three-time First Team All-American, Brewer twice earned Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors. The only three-time All-American in conference history, he was a First Team All-SCAC selection all four years of his career.
"Brewer was a great player, I mainly coached the secondary and we had one of the better units in the nation," said Millsaps head baseball coach and former defensive assistant Jim Page. "We were good, but we knew our success had a lot to do with the havoc that Sean wreaked on every play."
Brewer's 435 career tackles rank fourth in conference history, and he owns the SCAC and school records for solo tackles in a season, racking up 99 in 1992. Brewer remains the Majors' all-time leader in solo tackles (332) and quarterback sacks (52), and he ranks second in total tackles with 435. Playing for coach Tommy Ranager, he also set the college's single-season record with 15 sacks his senior season.
"He was certainly a game-changer and someone we always had to prepare for," said former Trinity (Tex.) head coach Steve Mohr. "I had the privilege to coach some great players on great teams and he certainly was in that class of player, someone who was head and shoulders better than the players in our conference."
In recognition of his outstanding career, the Division III Defensive Lineman of the Year Award was named the Sean Brewer Award in 2013. He is a member of the SCAC's 15th Anniversary Team, and he earned induction into the Millsaps Hall of Fame in 2004.
Mohr went on to add, "This is certainly a well deserved and overdue honor for him."
Brewer becomes the third CAC/SCAC student-athlete to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. Teel Bruner, a defensive back from Centre College from 1982-85, was elected to the hall first in 1999. Shelby Jordan, a linebacker from Washington University (Mo.) from 1969-72, was elected to the hall a season ago.
After receiving his degree in 1993, Brewer went on to a successful career in education. In 2010, he was named the NASSP/Virco Assistant Principal of the Year for the state of Mississippi while working at Ridgeland High School. Brewer currently serves as principal at Rosa Scott High School in Madison, Miss.
The 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be inducted at the 58th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8, 2015 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The inductees will also be honored at the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2016, and they will be recognized at their respective collegiate institutions with on-campus salutes during the fall. Their accomplishments will be forever immortalized in the new College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
2015 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS
Players:
- TREV ALBERTS – LB, Nebraska (1990-93)
- BRIAN BOSWORTH – LB, Oklahoma (1984-86)
- BOB BREUNIG – LB, Arizona State (1972-74)
- SEAN BREWER – DL, Millsaps (Miss.) (1989-92)
- RUBEN BROWN – OT, Pittsburgh (1991-94)
- WES CHANDLER – SE, Florida (1974-77)
- THOM GATEWOOD – SE, Notre Dame (1969-71)
- DICK JAURON – RB, Yale (1970-72)
- CLINTON JONES – HB, Michigan State (1964-66)
- LINCOLN KENNEDY – OT, Washington (1989-92)
- ROB LYTLE (deceased) – RB, Michigan (1974-76)
- MICHAEL PAYTON – QB, Marshall (1989-92)
- ART STILL – DE, Kentucky (1974-77)
- ZACH THOMAS – LB, Texas Tech (1992-95)
- RICKY WILLIAMS – RB, Texas (1995-98)
Coaches:
- BILL SNYDER – 187-94-1 (66.5%); Kansas State (1989-2005, 2009-Present)
- JIM TRESSEL – 229-79-2 (74.2%); Youngstown State (1986-2000) and Ohio State (2001-10)