Former Auburn, NFL star to speak
Published 11:57 pm Saturday, September 26, 2009
SELMA — Nix-to-Sanders.
An Auburn legend.
One half of that legendary combination will be in Dallas County on Monday when the Selma Quarterback Club meets at 6:15 p.m. at the Central Alabama Farmers Cooperative.
Former Auburn and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Frank Sanders will be the featured speaker. And one memory for Tigers fans will be his catch from sophomore quarterback Patrick Nix in the 1993 Iron Bowl against Alabama.
The Tigers were undefeated going into the game. Auburn starting quarterback Stan White had been knocked out at Jordan-Hare Stadium with a fourth-and-15 at the Alabama 35 trailing 14-5 with 6:09 left in the third quarter.
Tommy Bowden was the offensive coordinator, and called “278Z Takeoff,” the AU archives said. Without even limbering up, Nix hung up the pass and Sanders pulled it in for a score. Auburn won the game 22-14.
In 1994, the Nix-to-Sanders combination also made the difference in the 36-33 victory over Florida.
At 6-1, 207 pounds, Sanders was chosen in the second round of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals, where he played eight seasons. He went one season with the Baltimore Ravens in 2003.
The best season of his professional career was 1998, when he led the NFC with 89 receptions for 1,145 yards and three touchdowns.
His career statistics include 507 receptions for 6,749 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Sanders appears in the videogames ESPN NFL 2K5 and Madden NFL 2005 as a free-agent wide receiver.
Other scheduled speakers include:
Oct. 12: Max Howell, who worked as an administrator and a coach in several Division I football programs around the South (Florida State, Ole Miss and Troy University) after playing at Auburn and Troy.
Oct. 19: Hank Nichols retired NCAA overseer of men’s basketball officials.
Nov. 2: Rob Pate, a four-year football starter t Auburn who won the Pat Dye Leadership Award.
Nov. 16: R.C. Slocum, winning coach n Texas A&M history.