Eleven of Alcorn State’s finest football players suited up one last time to receive the school’s highest honor on Friday night.

Steve and Fred McNair, along with former Alcorn, Vicksburg High and Rosa A. Temple coach Cardell Jones, longtime Vicksburg resident Henry Harper, and seven other Brave legends were inducted into Alcorn State University’s &#8220A” Club Sports Hall of Fame at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

The only non-football inductee in the 12-man class was Lonnie Walker, a former basketball and baseball player who later coached basketball at Alcorn and Port Gibson High School.

&#8220This is a great honor. Out of all the awards I received when I was at Alcorn, this is by far the greatest one I’ve ever received,” said Fred McNair, who played wide receiver and quarterback for the Braves from 1986-89. &#8220I always watched the Canton, Ohio, one. But being able to go into the hall of fame from your alma mater is a great and special privilege.”

Fred McNair caught 48 passes during his Alcorn career before switching to quarterback, where he threw for 2,311 yards and 14 touchdowns in two seasons. He then went on to enjoy a decade-long career in the Arena Football League.

Unlike most sequels, however, &#8220Air II” McNair was better than the original &#8220Air” McNair.

Steve McNair arrived at Alcorn in 1991 and immediately set about rewriting the school’s record book – as well those of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the NCAA.

Steve McNair threw for 14,496 yards, an NCAA Division I-AA record, and 119 touchdowns, and ran for 2,327 yards. He still ranks second in school history for career rushing yardage.

McNair finished third in the 1994 Heisman Trophy balloting, was selected third overall in the 1995 NFL draft by the Houston Oilers, then led the franchise to its first Super Bowl in 1999, after they moved to Nashville and became the Tennessee Titans. He did not attend the induction ceremony because his Titans are playing on Sunday.

&#8220Steve is one in a lifetime. He was a player who dominated a game almost by himself,” said Jones, who was Alcorn’s head coach during McNair’s career there. &#8220He was a hard worker, too. Dedicated. What a lot of people don’t realize is he was a very intelligent player.”

Steve McNair’s career at Alcorn coincided with that of Jones, who also arrived at the Lorman school in 1991. He led the Braves to a 43-31-2 record in seven seasons as the Braves’ coach. He also played running back at the school from 1961-64.

After graduating from Alcorn, Jones went north to Vicksburg, where he helped the Rosa A. Temple Buccaneers become a powerhouse. The Buccaneers won 39 straight games from 1967-70 before integration led to the merger of Temple and Cooper High Schools.

In 1973, Jones was coaching at the new Vicksburg High when the team won the Big 8 championship. He left VHS after the 1975 season.

&#8220We had some great teams and some great players. You’ve got to have some great players, and we had so many,” Jones said. &#8220It’s some fond memories.”

The other inductees were: