When Sean Brewer was first put on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame last March, he didn’t give it much thought.

The Vicksburg native and former Millsaps All-American was certainly honored to be considered. With nearly 175 other names on the ballot, however, and a new selection process that made it tougher for lower-division players to be picked, he figured his chances were slim.

Sure enough, the Class of 2014 was announced and Brewer wasn’t part of it. When he was included on the ballot for 2015, he paid little attention.

And then the package arrived that blew his mind.

“I received a package with a big ball and a letter saying I’d made it. It was shocking,” Brewer said.

Just like that, the undersized defensive lineman who led Warren Central to a state championship before becoming perhaps the best to ever play his position on the Division III level, was a Hall of Famer alongside household names like Brian Bosworth, Ricky Williams and Jim Tressel.

His selection was announced Jan. 9, the day after he received his notification in the mail. He’ll be inducted in December in Atlanta.

“It’s a little surreal,” Brewer said. “I heard (ESPN anchor) Rece Davis call my name on TV and I expected them to move on. It was a double take that they did a little bit on me. Those other guys are guys that I watched play. I was awed by their ability. It’s hard to still believe that it’s real.”

Brewer’s list of accolades is long.

He was a three-time Division III All-American — still the only defensive lineman to earn that distinction — holds Millsaps’ career records for tackles and sacks, and has been a member of the Millsaps Hall of Fame since 2004.

In 2014, USA Football renamed its award for Division III’s best defensive lineman The Sean Brewer award.

Not bad for an undersized, 5-foot-10, 235-pound defensive lineman who excelled in high school and participated in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game as a senior, but couldn’t get a scholarship offer from the state’s big-time football programs.

“Maybe it shows God has a sense of humor,” Brewer laughed. “He made a really good football player, just in a smaller package.”

Of all the honors he’s received, Brewer said making it to the Hall of Fame as a Division III player trumps them all.

The Hall used to have a separate ballot for the more famous Division I players and those in lower divisions. That changed in 2014, the first year Brewer was on the ballot, so that all of the approximately 175 players and coaches up for selection are voted on together.

Of the 33 players and coaches elected to the Hall in the two years since the change, Brewer is the only one who did not play at the FBS or FCS level.

“To be fully accepted as a member of our division is great,” Brewer said. “To have our group represented is important. I’m glad to be a part of that, and to carry the mail for our team.”

He’s also carrying the mail for Team Brewer and continuing his family’s Hall of Fame tradition. His father, Johnny Brewer, was a Redwood native who played in the NFL for 10 seasons — he was part of the Cleveland Browns’ 1964 NFL championship team — and was selected to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. He’s also in the Ole Miss athletic hall of fame.

Johnny Brewer died in May 2011. Sean Brewer said, proudly, that he knew his dad was beaming up above.

“His chest would’ve gone out about three inches and he wouldn’t have stopped smiling for about a year,” Sean Brewer said. “I was proud of him when he went in the Mississippi Hall of Fame. I know he would’ve felt the same way about this. I know he’s smiling right now.”

Considering his dominance on the Division III level, Brewer said he often thought about what he could have done if given the chance to play at Ole Miss — his father’s alma mater — or another big-time program.

That was in his younger years.

In the 22 years since he graduated from Millsaps, Brewer has moved on and settled into life. He became an educator and administrator, coached football for a bit, and is now the principal at Rosa Scott High School in Madison.

The relationships formed over the years and the path he blazed by attending Millsaps have allowed him to put any “what if” notions to rest, he said.

“If I go back 25 years to when I came out of high school, all the players dreamed of playing at a D-I school and I was no different,” he said. “That was certainly something I would’ve liked to have the opportunity to do then. But once I got to Millsaps and met my teammates and coaches, I’m fully at peace with it. I don’t have any regrets.”