Two of Vicksburg’s all-time football greats are being honored by one of their alma maters.

Michael Myers and Mark Smith, who were teammates at Vicksburg High School before both went on to play in the NFL, have been selected to the Hinds Community College Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024.

They will be inducted along with women’s soccer and softball player Kelli East Dyess; men’s soccer player Nic Henderson; and longtime assistant football coach Dot Easterwood Murphy at a ceremony on Oct. 24 at Cain-Cochran Hall on Hinds’ Raymond campus.

The induction ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m. It is free to attend, and the public is invited. Hinds will play its football homecoming game that evening at 7 p.m. against Pearl River.

Myers and Smith were both part of Vicksburg High’s famous “Swamp Thing” defense in the early 1990s. Myers was The Vicksburg Post’s Warren County Defensive Player of the Year in 1992 and 1993.

Smith graduated from VHS in 1993 and Myers a year later. They both got to Hinds in 1994 and earned NJCAA All-America honors that season as the Eagles won the MACCC state championship. Hinds’ defense was ranked No. 2 overall in the nation as the lineman Myers collected eight sacks and the linebacker Smith was one of the team’s leading tacklers.

Smith only played one season with Hinds and then moved on to Auburn, where he was a starter on the defensive line for two seasons. He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the seventh round of the 1997 NFL draft.

Smith played six seasons in the NFL — the first four with the Cardinals and the last two with the Cleveland Browns — and finished his career with 20 sacks.

Myers stayed at Hinds for two seasons, helping the Eagles to a second state championship in 1995. He set a school record as a freshman with 20 sacks in 1994, and had eight more the following year.

Myers transferred to Alabama and was a first-team All-America and All-Southeastern Conference selection in 1996, when he had 21 tackles for loss and 24 quarterback hurries. Both still rank among the top five single-season totals in Alabama history.

The Dallas Cowboys picked Myers in the fourth round of the 1998 NFL draft, and he had a long and productive pro career. Myers played in 138 games over 10 seasons with the Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals before retiring in 2007. He finished with 15.5 career sacks.

Myers and Smith narrowly missed being teammates again with the Browns. Smith played for the team in 2001 and 2002, and Myers from 2003-04.

After his playing career ended, Myers returned to Hinds for a brief stint as a graduate assistant coach. He is currently living in Oak Point, Texas and working on real estate investments.

Smith is retired and now lives in Madison.