Bobby Humphrey to speak at 2016 Hoover Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast

March 24, 2016 6:08 PM

File photo by Jessa Pease.

Former Alabama football and NFL standout Bobby Humphrey has been selected as the speaker for the 34th annual Hoover Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast in May.

This year’s event is set for 7:30 a.m. on May 3 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel. Tickets are $25 and go on sale April 4 at the Hoover Library Theatre box office or the box office website.

Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey said Humphrey was asked to be this year’s speaker because he’s a good friend who has accomplished so much and is an extremely good speaker. “I think they’re really going to enjoy it,” Ivey said.

Humphrey, who played running back for the University of Alabama in the 1980s, set many records while in Tuscaloosa, including most 100-yard games, most 200-yard games, most kicks returned, most yards returned and most all-purpose yards. He was named to the All-SEC teams and chosen as an All-American during his sophomore and junior years and was a candidate for the Heisman trophy during his junior year.

An injury sidetracked him his senior year, but Humphrey was drafted by the Denver Broncos and rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 1989, earning the American Football League Rookie of the Year Award and a place in the starting lineup for the 1990 Super Bowl. In 1992, he was traded to the Miami Dolphins and became that team's leading receiver.

After his NFL career, Humphrey became the first head coach for the Birmingham Steeldogs Arena Football 2 team. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and named a member of the SEC Legends Class of 2014.

He now is vice president for business development for Bryant Bank, manager for the Speed City Track Club and a member of the Hoover Parks and Recreation Board. He and his wife, Barbara, live in Hoover and have five children, all of whom have been athletic standouts as well.

The deadline to purchase tickets for the 2016 Hoover Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast is April 25. The event, organized by the Hoover Beautification Board, usually draws 550-600 people.