Football | 10/29/2020 1:10:00 PM

Three Alcornites Named Finalists for Black College Football Hall of Fame

LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University football program was represented by three finalists for the Black College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 including Donald Driver, Jimmie Giles and Roynell Young.
 
The trio is among a group of 25 finalists. They were selected from a field of over 150 nominees, selected by an 11-member committee of journalists, commentators, historians, former NFL General Managers and football executives.
 
The inductees will be announced on November 19, 2020. They will be honored during the Black College Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on February 20, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, visit www.BlackCollegeFootballHOF.org.
 
Driver was a two-sport athlete at Alcorn. He's the current school record holder in both the men's high jump (2.30m) and long jump (7.75m) in outdoor track & field. Driver is the all-time leading receiver with the Green Bay Packers and was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in July 2017. He was a seventh-round pick in the 1997 NFL Draft. Driver hauled in 1,933 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns at Alcorn.
 
Giles was also a two-sport athlete at Alcorn and arrived to play baseball. He was recruited by an assistant coach to play football and was used primarily as a blocking halfback. He quickly turned the heads of NFL scouts after helping lead the Braves to winning the 1976 SWAC Championship and earned All-Conference recognition. Giles was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. He went on to play 13 seasons in the NFL and was the 70th pick in the 1977 NFL Draft.
 
Young finished his Alcorn playing career with 20 interceptions, 144 tackles and 48 pass deflections. He helped the Braves capture the 1979 SWAC Championship as part of a defensive secondary that only allowed 108.0 yards per game. Young was named to the All- SWAC and NAIA First-Team Defense in 1979. In 1980, Young was selected as the 23rd overall pick by the Phila­delphia Eagles in the NFL Draft becoming the first-ever Alcorn football player to be selected in the first round.
 
Driver, Giles and Young will look to join Alcornites Steve McNair, Dennis Thomas and Marino Casem in the Black College Football Hall of Fame.
 
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