On Wednesday, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame announced their inductee class of 2023. Eight new members are joining the ranks of over 400 other icons from Texas Sports history: Robert Brazile, José Cruz, Scott Drew, Carlette Guidry-Falkquay, Priest Holmes, Adrian Peterson, Cynthia Potter, and Michael Strahan. They will be formally inducted at the ceremony on Saturday, April 25th, 2023.
Robert Brazile
Brazile, aka “Dr. Doom,” played for the Houston Oilers from 1975 to 1984 and is already a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame after being inducted in 2018. He won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1975, starting a successful career for Houston, including AFC Championship appearances in 1978 and 1979, part of an impressive stretch of years that landed him on the All-Decade team of the 1970s.
José Cruz
Cruz, a Houston Astros legend, is already a member of the Houston Astros Hall of Fame after being part of the inaugural class in 2019, and his number 25 has been retired since 1992. The two-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger was with the Astros for thirteen years, finishing with a .292 average over that span and leading the team and franchise in several other offensive categories.
Scott Drew
Winner of the last three Big 12 Coach of the Year awards, Drew is known for taking on what could be considered a disastrous Baylor basketball program and bringing it to the promised land in 2021. He began his tenure with the Bears in 2003, taking a struggling program from disappointing seasons to being part of the NCAA tournament in almost every recent season. Baylor would win the NCAA Championship in 2021 under him after beating Houston in the Final Four before overcoming Gonzaga for his first title as a coach.
Carlette Guidry-Falkquay
Guidry-Falkquay, a Houston native, had an incredible career as a sprinter, including winning twelve NCAA titles and other honors for the Texas Longhorns in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She then took her talents to the Olympics for Team USA, where as part of a relay team, she took home gold in the 4 x 100 m race in Barcelona in 1992 and then repeated in 1996 in Atlanta.
Priest Holmes
Holmes’ eventual award-filled NFL career began with Texas roots. Raised in San Antonio, he rushed for over 2,000 yards for his High School in his senior year before playing at the University of Texas. After going undrafted in 1997, he began his pro career with the Ravens before joining the Chiefs in 2001, where he became the first undrafted running back in NFL history to lead the league in rushing. He went on to win Offensive Player of the Year in 2002, a year in which he had the most rushing touchdowns.
Adrian Peterson
Peterson, a Texas native, is regarded as one of the best running backs in history. After his college career in Oklahoma, he became a dominant force in the NFL for the Vikings, where he found success nearly every year, including in 2012 when he won the league MVP award, Offensive Player of the Year, and led the league in rushing yards. He went on to play in seven Pro Bowls and was named to the All-Decade Team of the 2010s.
Cynthia Potter
Born in Houston, Potter is an Olympic champion diver representing the USA in the 1968, 1972, and 1976 games as part of her illustrious career, including 28 diving championships. In Montreal in 1976, she took home the Bronze medal in the 3 m springboard event, and in 1987 was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Michael Strahan
Strahan, now a familiar face on television, was born in Houston, where he would eventually play high school football before attending Texas Southern in the late 1980s and early 1990s, where he holds the record of 41.5 career sacks. After being drafted in the second round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the Giants, he would play his entire fifteen-year career in New York, during which he would lead the league in sacks two times (2001 and 2003), take home NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2001, and be named to seven Pro Bowls and the 2000s All-Decade Team. Strahan’s number 92 is retired in the New York Giants Ring of Honor.