Staff reports
The South Carolina Football Hall of Fame (SCFHOF) has opened online voting for its Class of 2024 with a First Round Nomination Ballot, and this year’s ballot of 75 nominees (players and coaches) features two players with Beaufort ties – Zach Brown and Ron Parker.
Linebacker Zach Brown was born in Beaufort in 1989 but attended Wilde Lake High School (Columbia, Md.) and Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., before playing four seasons (2008-2011) at North Carolina.
Brown was drafted in the second round, 52nd overall, by the Tennessee Titans in the 2012 NFL Draft. He played 100 games – starting 80 — over eight seasons in the NFL with the Titans, the Buffalo Bills, the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Brown’s best season was his 2012 rookie season – he recorded 5.5 sacks and three interceptions for the Titans, returning two for touchdowns.
He finished his career with seven interceptions and 17.5 sacks. He made 664 tackles, 59 for loss and forced six fumbles.
Port Royal’s Parker graduated from Beaufort High School. Mostly overlooked coming out of high school, he landed at Independence Community College in Kansas before ending up at Newberry.
He was a standout for the Wolves – he’s a member of the Newberry Athletic Hall of Fame — but NFL scouts ignored “The Ghost.”
The Seattle Seahawks took a chance on Parker as an undrafted free agent in 2011, but he spent two years bouncing between franchises and fighting to earn a promotion from the practice squad to the active roster. He appeared in just five games in 2011 — three with the Oakland Raiders and two with the Seahawks — and five more in 2012, split between the Seahawks and Carolina Panthers.
Then came the call from Kansas City, and his first big break.
Parker joined the Chiefs in 2013 and played in all 16 games, starting one. He was a solid contributor who picked off two passes and recovered three fumbles in limited action, and his efforts resulted in a starting role in 2014 for legendary coach Andy Reid’s team.
After starting 15 games and playing 96 percent of the Chiefs’ defensive snaps in 2014, Parker was rewarded with a five-year, $25 million contract with Kansas City, which ended up taking him through the end of his career when the team waived him following the 2018 season.
“This man believed in me when no one else did,” Parker said of Reid through social media in 2020. “Can’t thank (him) enough for what an unbelievable career I had.”
In all, Parker played in 105 NFL games over eight seasons, starting 78. He finished with 394 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, eight sacks, 11 interceptions (one touchdown), five forced fumbles, and five fumble recoveries.
Nominees were either born, grew up, played in South Carolina, coached at one of the state’s collegiate football programs, or made a significant positive impact on football in South Carolina.
Voting is available online at scfootballhof.org and is open to everyone. The first-round voting period runs through Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, allowing SCFHOF supporting members, football fans, and media outlets to vote for up to four (4) modern era nominees and one (1) legacy nominee from the provided ballot or a write-in for the Class of 2024.
The final round of voting will follow shortly after, featuring the top names from the Nomination Round vote. The Class of 2024 will be enshrined at the organization’s 12th Annual Enshrinement Ceremony on April 17, 2025, at Hotel Hartness in Greenville, S.C.
