Former NFL All-Pro and 2006 NFL Hall of Fame inductee Harry Carson will be the keynote speaker at the 2007 SWAC Football Media Day on Tuesday, July 24. The former New York Giants standout will speak during the kickoff luncheon at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel located on Richard Arrington Boulevard in downtown Birmingham.
Carson spent 13 seasons with the New York Football Giants; during his tenure, the former All-Pro served as team captain for 10 seasons. One of those magical seasons came in 1986 when the Giants downed the Denver Broncos 39-20 to capture Super Bowl XXI. His career was filled with accolades and honors; he ended his first professional season being named to the NFL All-Rookie Team. Subsequently, during his NFL career, he was named to the All-NFL Team seven times, the All-NFC Team eight times, and NFC Linebacker of the Year twice. He once made an amazing 25 tackles in a Monday Night Football Game against the Green Bay Packers. With performances like that he was selected by his peers to play in the NFC-AFC Pro Bowl nine times and is among the top 300 players to ever play in the National Football League.
Currently, Carson is CEO and President of Harry Carson Inc. a Sports Consulting and Promotions Company. In that role, his company consults with media outlets, educational sources and corporations on sports as well as non-sports related issues. Harry Carson Inc. provides expert television, radio, print media and internet commentary on sports matters as well as motivational and inspirational speakers (most former professional athletes) to schools and corporations. He is also a member of the New York Football Giants pre-season broadcasting team and is a regular season Broadcast Analyst and Co-Host of Giants GamePlan. Carson also serves as Executive Director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, an organization dedicated to creating racial diversity within non-player roles within the National Football League. Some of Carson’s post football career honors include inductions into:
- The South Carolina State University Athletic Hall of Fame
- The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame
- The Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey
- The New Jersey Sportswriter’s Hall of Fame
- The Black College Alumni Hall of Fame
- The College Football Hall of Fame
- The Professional Football Hall of Fame
- Sheridan Broadcasting Network 100-Year Anniversary Black
- College All-American Team
- All-Division II College Football Team of the Quarter Century (1975-1999
The 2007 SWAC Media Day activities will begin at 9 am with interview sessions from the head coaches and student athletes from all ten conference institutions. Following the interview sessions, the kickoff luncheon will begin at 11 am with remarks from the Conference Office and the announcement of the preseason honors and predicted order of finish.
Limited tickets are available to the public for $30 and can be obtained by contacting Duer Sharp at the SWAC Office (205) 251-7573. Media registration forms can be found on the conference website and requested from the SWAC Media Relations office.
SWAC Youth Football Clinic
In conjunction with the kickoff luncheon, the fourth SWAC Youth Football clinic will take place on Monday, July 23, 2007 at Birmingham’s Legion Field from 9:00a to 12:00n. The three-hour event will contain drill and instruction for Birmingham-area youth and will be conducted by SWAC football coaches. Scheduled to appear are Alabama A&M head coach Anthony Jones and Alabama State head coach Reggie Barlow.
