Former Alabama football player Sylvester Croom selected for College Football Hall of Fame

Former Alabama football player Sylvester Croom selected for College Football Hall of Fame

Former Alabama football center Sylvester Croom will be honored as part of the 2022 class for the College Football Hall of Fame.

Croom, 67, played for the Crimson Tide from 1972-74 under coach Paul W. "Bear" Bryant. He helped lead Alabama to three consecutive SEC championships and the 1973 UPI National Championship. In 1974 he was named as a First-Team All-SEC and All-American Honoree. Croom won the SEC's Jacobs Blocking Trophy that season.

After playing for the New Orleans Saints for one season he returned to Alabama to be an assistant under Bryant and later Ray Perkins from 1976-86. He switched between coaching the inside and outside linebackers during his time at Alabama. As assistant he helped lead Alabama to two more National Championships in 1978 and 1979.

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Croom became the first Black football coach in SEC history when he was hired at Mississippi State in 2004. He went 21-38 in five seasons and was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2007.

Croom was also an NFL assistant coach for 24 years. He was offensive coordinators for the Lions from 1997-2000. He had stints as a running backs coach for seven teams highlighted by the Buccaneers, Packers and Titans.

Croom is a native of Tuscaloosa, graduating from Tuscaloosa High in 1971. Croom is the 22nd Alabama player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.

The official induction will take place Dec. 6 and he will be honored at some point on the Alabama campus during the 2022 football season.