Former Northern Kentucky football standout Shaun Alexander was recently inducted into the Seattle Seahawks Ring of Honor.
The Seahawks honored Alexander on Oct. 16 during half time of their 19-9 win over the Arizona Cardinals, their NFC West division rival.
“The Seahawks are proud to recognize the incredible impact Shaun had on our organization by making him the 15th member of the Seahawks Ring of Honor,” said Seahawks president Chuck Arnold. “Shaun is the true definition of a champion both on and off the field, and we are excited to formally celebrate him in front of the 12s this season with his induction ceremony.”
Alexander, a native of Florence, starred at Boone County High School from 1991 to 1994, rushing for 3,166 yards and a state record 54 touchdowns.
Alexander is considered to be one of the greatest prep football players in Kentucky high school football history. The KHSAA record books credit Alexander with 6,662 career rushing yards and 110 touchdowns. He was awarded the 1994 Kentucky Mr. Football Award.
After Alexander starred for the Rebels, he committed to the University of Alabama. He went on to star as a running back becoming one of the Crimson Tide’s marquee players of the 1990s. At Alabama, he rushed for 3,565 career yards and had 49 total touchdowns. He was named the 1999 SEC Player of the Year.
He was selected 19th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft by the Seahawks. Alexander spent nearly his entire career in Seattle, where he holds franchise records such as team rushing attempts (2,176), rushing yards (9,429), rushing touchdowns (100), total touchdowns (112), single-game rushing attempts (40), single-game rushing yards (266), single-game rushing touchdowns (4) and longest rush (88T). He’s eighth all time in NFL history for rushing touchdowns.
His greatest season came in 2005, where he earned the NFL MVP, led Seattle to a 13-3 season and an appearance in Super Bowl XL. During the 2005 season, he rushed for 1,880 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns which was the all-time record for rushing touchdowns in a season. The record was broken the next season by LaDainian Tomlinson who scored 28.
He is the only player from Northern Kentucky to be named NFL MVP, and the second Kentuckian after Green Bay Packers legend Paul Hornung won the award in 1961.
In 2007, Alexander donned the cover of EA Sports Madden NFL video game.
Alexander finished his career in Washington, after playing only four games with the team during his final season in 2008.
He commemorated the special weekend on his Instagram with a post. The caption read, “The Ring of Honor celebration last weekend was amazing. More than anything, my journey has been all about family. I’m grateful that for the first time, my entire family was able to travel to Seattle and be with the Seahawks. We take the meaning of ‘the 12’s’ to a whole new level. Haha.. Go Hawks.”
