DeMarcus Ware has chosen Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to serve as his presenter when he’s enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 5.

Jones selected the Auburn High School alumnus from Troy with the 11th choice in the 2005 NFL Draft. Ware spent the first nine seasons of his NFL career in Dallas. He earned seven Pro Bowl invitations and made first-team All-Pro four times as he compiled 117 sacks before departing in free agency for three seasons with the Denver Broncos.

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“DeMarcus was everything we could have ever wanted in a player, a person and a representative of the Cowboys organization,” Jones told the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “He was one of the most dominant NFL players at his position in his era, and he was one of the most dynamic players in the history of the Dallas Cowboys.”

Ware got the news from Jones in February that he had been chosen for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023.

“Jerry was like, ‘Hey, can you come by and see me?’” Ware said during a recent appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Up and Adams.” “So I knocked on the door, and I saw Jerry with his gold jacket on. And I said, ‘What’s going on here?’ And he said, ‘Welcome to the 2023 Hall of Fame class.’ And I really didn’t know what he was saying. He said, ‘Congratulations,’ and I saw four or five cameras and I saw the bus behind him, and it hit me. I’m like, ‘Holy cow! Is this it?’ Like really, I got chills right now just from that moment. I couldn’t even talk. It was like my whole soul left me for a while and I came back. It still feels that way to this day when I talk about it.”

Joining Ware in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023 are Joe Thomas, Darrelle Revis, Ronde Barber and Zach Thomas as well as senior-committee nominees Ken Riley, Joe Klecko and Chuck Howley and coach/contributor nominee Don Coryell.

Ware becomes the 16th player from an Alabama high school or college to be chosen for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The state’s other Hall of Famers are Robert Brazile (Vigor), Buck Buchanan (Parker), Frank Gatski (Auburn), Kevin Greene (Auburn), John Hannah (Albertville, Alabama), Don Hutson (Alabama), Walter Jones (Aliceville), Joe Namath (Alabama), Ozzie Newsome (Colbert County, Alabama), Terrell Owens (Benjamin Russell), Ken Stabler (Foley, Alabama), John Stallworth (Tuscaloosa, Alabama A&M), Bart Starr (Sidney Lanier, Alabama), Dwight Stephenson (Alabama) and Derrick Thomas (Alabama).

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The enshrinement ceremony for the Class of 2023 will be held on Aug. 5 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.

“I’m still pinching myself right now, thinking I’m in a dream,” Ware said, “but eventually I’m going to have to wake up and put that jacket on.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.