Offensive tackle Terron Armstead retired from the NFL last month after a 13-year career that included five Pro Bowl selections. On Sunday night, Armstead entered the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame.

Armstead achieved that as a third-round draft choice from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and one of the reasons, Armstead said, is Ben Grubbs.

When Armstead joined New Orleans in 2013, Grubbs played left guard for the Saints. Armstead played in six games and started two as a rookie. In 2014, New Orleans let Charles Brown leave in free agency and put Armstead at left tackle beside Grubbs in its offensive line.

“Ben Grubbs is the best player I ever played next to,” Armstead said. “He was sensational. Everything that he taught me in those first two years, the level of safety just having him there on my inside.

“I remember we was playing the Green Bay Packers and the great Clay Matthews coming off the edge. He was coming off a 20-plus sack season, something like that – something stupid. Probably second quarter, Clay went to spin inside, and Ben smacked him. Clay didn’t go inside anymore, so it took away a whole half of the field for me. I don’t have to worry about an inside move because I have a great left guard that’s watching for me, so now anything outside I’m comfortable. I’m extremely comfortable.

“So he helped me so much in those early years, that safety, his experience, his knowledge – Ben Grubbs is an all-time great.”

An All-State selection for Elmore County in 2001, Grubbs joined the Baltimore Ravens from Auburn as a first-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft. After five seasons with Baltimore and a Pro Bowl selection in 2011, Grubbs signed with the Saints as a free agent. He earned Pro Bowl recognition again in 2013.

On March 12, 2015, New Orleans traded Grubbs to the Kansas City Chiefs after he’d taken every offensive snap for three seasons at left guard for the Saints. Seven games into the 2015 season, Grubbs sustained a career-ending neck injury.

Grubbs played in the Senior Bowl six years before Armstead. While Grubbs came to Mobile as a second-team All-American selection by The Associated Press, Armstead arrived at the Port City’s all-star game as a small-school question mark.

“I was a late invite coming from the East-West Shrine Game,” Armstead said. “I was super excited when I got here. A little nervous, too – I can’t lie – when I got here and I see the names and the schools in attendance. But it was so vital for me, so important for me in my predraft process to get more eyes and more exposure in order to get drafted. …

“I had one full-speed practice when I got here, and we transitioned to one-on-ones. And that was a really big thing, especially on the O-line. My first rep, I kind of slipped. It wasn’t pretty at all. I ended up on the ground – a bad situation for an offensive lineman. Second rep, I dominated. Slammed him to the ground, I dove on him, and from that moment on, I felt like, ‘All right, I’m supposed to be here.’ That’s definitely my memory – most fond memory. I thought it was pretty cool.”

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis drafted Armstead and attended his induction into the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame at the Grand Hotel Golf Resort and Spa in Point Clear.

“Terron was a player that one of our scouts was championing early on in that season of evaluation,” Loomis said. “He was a kid from Arkansas-Pine Bluff who was dominating the competition. And, look, you see that occasionally, and we’ve had some luck with the smaller-college offensive lineman. Mike Baugh, the scout, was really on him, so we came to the Senior Bowl and saw him against better competition than he faced in school, and he did a fabulous job. And then he goes to the combine, and he just hits home runs at the combine. Had some of the greatest numbers in the history of the combine as an offensive lineman.

“What was on his tape, the traits, the interviews that we had with him, you could tell he was a quality, quality guy who wanted to be good. And he really developed into a great leader for our team in the years that he was with us. So couldn’t be happier for a guy to come as far as he’s come and have the career that he’s had.”

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