Tennessee Volunteer Legend Eric Berry Named 2023 Tennessee Sports Hall Of Fame Inductee

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Eric Berry. Photo: Tennessee Athletics

University of Tennessee Football legend and former NFL All-Pro Eric Berry has been named the 12th and final member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023.

“Eric Berry was a heralded football player at every level of competition, and he is an incredibly worthy inductee,” says Brad Willis, Executive Director of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. “Eric’s play, however, is only part of his story, and he inspired millions with his fight with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and his return to football just one year later. We’re very excited to have Eric Berry as part of our 2023 Class of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.”

Berry, a Fairburn, Georgia native, was ranked the No. 3 player in the nation coming out of high school. He attended the University of Tennessee from 2007-2009, where his play earned him All-SEC honors and unanimous All-American picks in 2008 and 2009 as well as the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2008, the Jack Tatum Award in 2008 and 2009 and the Jim Thorpe Award in 2009. Berry declared for the NFL Draft following his junior season and was selected fifth overall by the Kansas City Chiefs. Berry played nine seasons for the Chiefs, becoming a three-time All-Pro, and a five-time Pro Bowler.

In 2014, Berry was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and missed the remainder of the season. He returned in 2015, and was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Berry was released by the Chiefs in 2019, after an Achilles injury costed him large portions of the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

He joins former Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck, former Memphis Grizzlies power forward Zach Randolph, former Tennessee Volunteer and NFL lineman John Henderson, former Nashville Predators Captain Mike Fisher, Memphis Football linebacker Tim Harris, Vanderbilt basketball trailblazer and former TSU Athletics Director Teresa Lawrence Phillips, MTSU baseball legend Steve Smith, golfer Loren Roberts, Bristol Motor Speedway Co-Founder Carl R. Moore, ETSU Basketball Coach and Athletics Director Les Robinson and Lady Vol Track star and Olympic Gold Medalist Tianna Madison as 2023 Inductees.

The induction ceremony, presented by the Tennessee Titans, will be held Saturday, July 22nd at the Omni Nashville Downtown.

Steven Boero
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