Alex Mack revelled in the largely anonymous life of an offensive lineman.
But notoriety always seemed to find Mack, whether it was helping lead Cal to its most productive run in the modern era or during his 13 seasons in the NFL, the last coming with the 49ers.
Wednesday, Mack was selected as part of the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025. It was his first time on the ballot.
Former coaches Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, and former players Michael Vick and Michael Strahan also are among the 18 players and four coaches who will be inducted Dec. 9 during an awards dinner in Las Vegas. The Hall of Fame is located in Atlanta.
Mack is the 17th former Cal player and the program’s 23rd member in all to be enshrined in the Hall. The most recent addition was quarterback Steve Bartkowski in 2012.
Mack, 39, retired from the NFL in 2022 after one season with the 49ers. He went out by making the Pro Bowl for the seventh time and as the starting center on a team that reached the NFC Championship Game.
On a social media post to announce his retirement, Mack wrote, in part, that, “I think I’ll miss the O-line rooms the most. Always a special collection of men willing to put in the work together, in near anonymity, for the good of the team.”
Mack did a lot of good at Cal.
With Mack starting 39 consecutive games at center from 2005-08, the Golden Bears won straight four bowl games and went 34-17. Every team Mack played on appeared in the AP Top-25, and the 2006 squad was co-champs in the Pac-12 and tied a school record with 10 wins. As a junior, the Bears reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings.
Mack, who grew up in Santa Barbara, was no pushover in the classroom either, earning a 3.61 GPA as a legal studies major. In 2008, as a grad student, he won the “academic Heisman” – then known as the Draddy Trophy and now called the William V. Campbell Trophy – as the college football player with the best combination of academics, community service, and on-field performance.
“Alex Mack is what an elite student-athlete and tremendous person should be all about – on the field, in the classroom and in his community,” former Cal head coach Jeff Tedford said in a statement released by the school Wednesday. “He gave everything he could on and off the field. I could not be prouder of Alex.
“His selection to the College Football Hall of Fame is well-deserved and something that only a few of the very best of the best in our game are ever able to realize.”
Mack was the 21st overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. He later played for the Atlanta Falcons before returning to the Bay Area to play for the 49ers in 2021. He was a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2010’s NFL All-Decade Team.
The other players in the Class of 2025 are:
Montee Ball (Wisconsin), Gregg Carr (Auburn), Blake Elliott (Saint John’s), Greg Eslinger (Minnesota), Terry Hanratty (Nortre Dame), Graham Harrell (Texas Tech), John Henderson (Tennessee), Michael Huff (Texas), Jim Kleinsasser (North Dakota), Terrence Metcalf (Mississippi), Haloti Ngata (Oregon), Steve Slaton (West Virginia), Darrin Smith (Miami), Dennis Thurman (USC) and Ryan Yarborough (Wyoming).
Other coaches are:
Larry Blakeney (Troy) and Larry “Bub” Korver (Northwestern College).