LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University football program saw two former players, Jimmie Giles and Roynell Young, join the prestigious Black College Football Hall of Fame as inductees to the class of 2021.
The pair were selected from a group of 25 finalists by an 11-member committee of journalists, commentators, historians, former NFL General Managers and football executives.
Giles was a two-sport athlete at Alcorn and originally 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 earning All-Conference recognition. Giles was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. He played 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.
Giles and Young join fellow Alcornites Steve McNair, Dennis Thomas and Marino Casem in the Black College Football Hall of Fame.
The Black College Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is slated for February 20, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, visit
www.BlackCollegeFootballHOF.org.
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