alex mack 2025 NFF COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS

alex mack

By Matt Fortuna

Alex Mack was enjoying an extended Christmas break across the pond when his phone started blowing up. Mack, the former Cal All-American and All-Pro NFL center, was with his wife, Rachael, and her side of the family in their hometown of Dublin.

"And I was like, What is this about? I'm confused," Mack said, laughing. "And then I saw the news and I was pretty stoked. We had a good dinner then."

The grub (and likely libations) always go down smooth in Ireland - especially when you receive news that you are becoming a College Football Hall of Famer.

Mack becomes the 17th former Golden Bears player to make the hall, and the first since quarterback Steve Bartkowski (Class of 2012) was inducted more than a decade ago.

"I just think how lucky I was to have the coaches I did throughout my career," Mack said of his football journey. "I am someone who is thankful for Cal taking a chance on me and offering me a scholarship. They were really the only school that kind of wanted to have me. So, I showed up to Cal thinking maybe football wasn't for me - I wasn't big enough, I wasn't good enough, but I got into Cal and (thought) I'll get a great education out of this. And if I'm terrible, then football is not for me, and I'll just get a great education. But just thankful for them taking that shot on me.

"And then really all the coaches I had from high school on up just to teach me how to work hard, the college coaches for giving me the scheme and the system and the technique and the training, and just how lucky I was to be able to become a better player with their help."

Mack dominated during his time in Berkeley, Calif., helping Cal win four bowl games and tying the school record for wins in a season (10) in 2006. The following season, in 2007, the Bears reached as high as No. 2 in the nation en route a share of the Pac-10 title, the program's first since 1975.

The Los Angeles native was a team captain in 2008, and he earned the conference's Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. Mack is no stranger to the NFF's annual awards dinner, as he won the Draddy Trophy - now known as the William V. Campbell Trophy - which is awarded by the NFF to the nation's best player for their performance on the field, in the classroom and as a leader in the community.

"I was so honored by that one because it was the combination of what it means to be a student-athlete, to take school really seriously and football and be successful at both," Mack said. "And to get that recognition was really special. The people I was competing against were all really, really good. (Yale's Casey Gerald) had a speech as the designated person to talk on behalf of everybody, and he crushed it. And I was like, This guy is really smart. I have no chance of winning this thing. And to be able to win that award and have that trophy and get that recognition, it was really special."

That honor, along with his back-to-back Morris Trophy selections as the Pac-10's best offensive lineman, stuck with him the most during his college career.

"It was the trophy that the opponent would vote on who you think is the best. All the offensive linemen would vote on who's the best defensive lineman, and all the defensive (linemen) would vote on who's the best offensive (lineman)," Mack said. "And so, for your peers to pick you out to win that one is amazing. I won that back-to-back years, so that was good to have my opponents feel like I was the best player they went against."

Mack's pro career featured more of the same after Cleveland drafted him 21st overall in 2009. He spent 13 seasons with the Browns, Falcons and 49ers, earning seven Pro Bowl nods and three second-team All-Pro honors. Not bad for a player who had doubts about his own football future upon stepping on campus.

"I just remember just when I went to Cal, I think it was the summer after my junior year of high school, and I did their camp there and they'd liked me enough seeing me practice that they offered me a scholarship while at the camp," Mack said. "And I just remember the walk from the football facilities back to the dorm room and seeing the Bay Area and Cal in front of me on this beautiful summer day, and just like what a cool place this is."

"Always having that memory of walking along the Berkeley Hills there and seeing the campus in front, Campanile (Cal's iconic bell tower), the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz all in the same kind of view and being like, This is cool, and what an awesome place it would be to play here. And then I did, and that was amazing."