DeMeco Ryans was 6 years old when Bo Jackson played his final NFL game. But Ryans still grew up hearing all about Jackson.
“My uncle went to high school and played with Bo in high school,” Ryans said on Friday, “so I knew very early on that Bo Jackson was the hometown hero.”
That hometown was Bessemer. While Jackson had starred at McAdory High School, Ryans was a standout about 5 miles away and 20 years later at Jess Lanier High School.
The Bessemer standouts landed on different sides of the Iron Bowl rivalry in college, with Jackson winning the 1985 Heisman Trophy at Auburn and Ryans earning the 2005 SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award at Alabama.
But both ended their college careers in the same place – the Cotton Bowl – and on Friday, Ryans’ timeline caught up with Jackson’s as they were inducted into the Cotton Bowl Classic Hall of Fame as members of the Class of 2025.
“The Cotton Bowl was the end of my college days and the beginning of me going out and getting a real job,” Jackson said. “Who would have thought of a little nappy-headed kid from Bessemer, Alabama, 60 years later being inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame?”
Each player’s strongest memory at the Hall of Fame induction was colored by the outcome of his Cotton Bowl.
Jackson ran for 129 yards and one touchdown on 31 carries and scored a 73-yard touchdown on a screen pass in No. 16 Auburn’s 36-16 loss to No. 11 Texas A&M on Jan. 1, 1986.
“As far as thinking about the play, I never think about what I did,” Jackson said when asked about the 73-yard touchdown at a press conference on Friday. “I think about what I did to let down my teammates, especially all my fellow classmates who were seniors. That was our last game, and we weren’t successful in that game, so I think about that more than a play that I was involved in.”
Ryans won the Defensive MVP Award as he anchored the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense against the No. 4 scoring offense in No. 13 Alabama’s 13-10 victory over No. 18 Texas Tech on Jan. 2, 2006.
“The one thing I remember most about the game and why I’m probably here today is because of something bad that happened to me in that game,” Ryans said. “I was pursuing to the Texas Tech sideline, and Danny Amendola, a little receiver, back when it was legal, he crack-backed and knocked me on my butt. For me, the cool moment was I got knocked down, and that’s when it clicked for me. Like, now it’s time for me to take over. Getting hit by Danny Amendola really spurred me to have a really outstanding defensive performance in that game.”
One more thing stuck out for Ryans: “My 2006 Cotton Bowl, I got my first portable DVD player (as a bowl gift). I said, ‘I’ve made it.’”The other members of the 14th Cotton Bowl Classic Hall of Fame Class are Notre fullback Jerome Bettis, Texas linebacker Randy Braband, Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe, Nebraska running back Tony Davis, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association chief ambassador, past chair and former team-selection and Playoff Committee Chair Fin Ewing III and CBAA historian Charlie Fiss.
