Mac, finally
- Updated: June 20, 2026
Campbell sees his long-awaited day, at last, inducted as a member of the Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame’s 2026 class.
OXFORD — Mac Campbell’s induction day finally came Saturday … Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2026.
The 21st class.
Almost 29 years after he played the final game of his record-breaking, award-gobbling high school football career for Alexandria, he donned his CCHoF medallion, collected his torso-sized plaque, posed for pictures, reminisced with old coaches and teammates and gave his charming speech.
And if you’re like the Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors, you probably wonder what took so long for the first of two Alabama Mr. Football winners from the county to see his night at the Oxford Civic Center.
More on that later.
First, Campbell took his place with a class that includes former Alexandria High and Jacksonville State University great the late Kevin Blue; Pleasant Valley/Jax State great Gena Higginbotham Cleveland; Anniston/Jax State great Eddie Isbell; Anniston/Jacksonville/Weaver volleyball, track, gymnastics and cheer coach Carolyn Matthews; and Oxford/Auburn University great Eric Stringer.
Higginbotham, battling what was announced as a “serious” case of COVID, could not attend. Board president Connie Davidson delivered her speech.
Campbell’s contingent included his wife Ceritha, sons Zackary and Kyrie, daughter Demi, his mother Julia and father Julius.
Campbell invited a special guest. Alvin Henderson, the Elba running back who finally broke Campbell’s career records for rushing yards (9,839) and rushing touchdowns (145) in 2024, could not attend because of family commitments.
Campbell presented the game ball to Henderson when Henderson broke Campbell’s records, which stood since 1997.
One could be forgiven for testing the predictions market on which would come first, Campbell’s records falling or his Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame induction.
Why did it take so long for Campbell to see this day?
Hard to say, but here’s guessing that a lot of folks just assumed this day would come.
The CCHoF board does not nominate candidates for induction. It considers nominees that come in from the community. Well, surely someone would nominate Mac Campbell, right?
It took more than a quarter century and public reminders from the board about how its process works. Maybe not explicitly, but they practically begged someone to nominate Campbell. Late long-time Calhoun County commissioner J.D. Hess nominated him before passing away Sept. 30, 2025, and Mr. Inevitable finally got the call.
Getting nominated was the hardest part, turns out, but Campbell takes it all in stride. Not the stride that helped him run a 4.35-second 40-yard dash back in the mid-to-late 1990s, but the stride of a middle-aged man who can smile about the memories and his life after football with equal shine.
“Everybody keeps saying it was well overdue,” he said. “It’s just timing. God’s timing. That’s all. I don’t look at it that way.”
Campbell lives in Madison with his family. He just transitioned to a job operating a forklift for Amazon. His wife will soon open Ceritha’s boutique. His oldest son, 15, awaits his sophomore year at Bob Jones High School.
To those whose last memory of Campbell involves him carrying the football in orange and black in the 1997 Class 4A state championship game, know that he gave it a go as a walk-on at UAB. Doctors told him he shouldn’t play.
Many remember what he called the “life-or-death” spinal meningitis scare that surfaced in and after the final game of his junior season at Alexandria. He went on to play a glorious senior season, but football beyond high school wasn’t the best prescription for a young man with a cracked skull and two ruptured discs.
“That’s why I didn’t continue football at the next level,” he said. “That level and the professional level, it probably wouldn’t have ended well.
“Like I tell people, I don’t regret. I had fun.”
Campbell got to travel with UAB’s team during his three years in school there. He went to Nebraska, Tennessee and Florida State, among other places.
He played semi-pro football.
Football gave him memories of an undefeated run to the 1995 state title as a sophomore. He lists it first when asked about favorite memories, because that team had something and “came together” to prove it.
He recalls the seniors going out on top, giving Alexandria its first state title in 10 years.
Alexandria won the title again in 1997, Campbell’s senior season, and did it with a team that he confesses he doubted before the season. He and his classmates got to go out on top.
Football gave him Campbell coaches like Frank Tucker, who hugged him after Saturday’s inductions. Tucker told Campbell what a thrill it was to watch him run the football.
Campbell hopes to have another football chapter in his life, one that would let him be that coach bringing the hug.
“Now, I just want to give back,” Campbell said. “It doesn’t matter. It could be high school, little league, anything. It’s just for the kids. I just want to get the fundamentals down. …
“I just love coaching kids.”
Calhoun County Sports Hall Fame Class of ‘26
Links to full CCHoF bios provided:
KEVIN BLUE: Alexandria football, basketball, baseball; Jacksonville State football. (Full bio on this link)
MAC CAMPBELL: Alexandria football. (Full bio on this link)
GENA HIGGINBOTHAM CLEVELAND: Pleasant Valley volleyball, softball; Jacksonville State volleyball. (Full bio on this link)
EDDIE ISBELL: Anniston and Jacksonville State baseball. (Full bio on this link)
CAROLYN MATTHEWS: Anniston, Jacksonville, Weaver volleyball, track, gymnastics and cheer coach. (Full bio on this link)
ERIC STRINGER: Oxford and Auburn University basketball. (Full bio on this link)
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