Terron Armstead flashed back to the 2013 Senior Bowl practically as soon as he arrived for the induction ceremony for the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 at the Grand Hotel Gulf Resort and Spa in Point Clear.

A large display of photographs carried images of the class members at the entrance to the Grand Ballroom, where Armstead, Geno Atkins, Jon Gruden, Alex Mack and Richard Sherman joined the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame on Sunday.

“Just the memories,” Armstead said. “Just seeing the pictures in the Senior Bowl uniforms with my helmet that’s slightly too big. It’s the memories, and the other guys, too, because of watching them and being close to their careers throughout this time. It’s amazing to be here.”

During the 2013 through 2020 NFL seasons, all four of the newest Senior Bowl Hall of Fame players were in action, and Gruden coached in three of those years, too.

“Now that I’m retired, it’s time to appreciate the old glory days,” Mack said. “Geno’s right here behind me doing a radio show, and we went head-to-head all the time for about seven years. And now that we’re done and the cleats are hung up, we can just tell fun stories. I was in the car with Richard Sherman on the way out here, and he was telling oddball stories of the old playing days, and now I’m going to be one of those guys.”

Mack at center and Atkins at defensive tackle squared off as division rivals in Browns-Bengals games. Armstead was an offensive tackle, and Sherman played cornerback.

Mack played in the Senior Bowl in 2009, Atkins in 2010 and Sherman in 2011.

Gruden coached in the game four times – 1999, 2005, 2007 and 2019. The first and last came as the coach of the Oakland Raiders; the middle two as the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“It used to be when you got picked to coach the Senior Bowl, your team had one of the worst records in the league, so it was kind of ‘Oh, God,’” Gruden said. “But it was huge advantage for us, I think, in preparing for the draft. We got to know not only how good the players were, but we got to see them behind the scenes – how much they studied, what their mannerisms were like, their leadership skills, the practice ethic, all that stuff – so it was really good for us. We got Cadillac Williams, the Rookie of the Year; Hunter Renfrow, a Pro Bowl slot receiver. I remember my first year, we got Eric Barton and Roderick Coleman for the Raiders. We’d have never taken those guys if we didn’t learn to love them right here at the Senior Bowl.

“And I always elevated players, whether I was right or wrong, I moved them all up on our board if they played here, because I think the guys that play in this game are the guys that really love football, that would probably play football for nothing, and I like guys like that.”

Coming from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Armstead was one of those players who needed someone to love him at the Senior Bowl.

The New Orleans Saints picked him the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Before retiring this offseason, Armstead started 131 regular-season games and earned five Pro Bowl invitations.

“I’m proud of the work I’ve done and the way that I went about it,” Armstead said. “Just tried to do things the right way, tried to be the best teammate I could be, be known as an avid leader and a guy who’s really going to do whatever for the team. And the Senior Bowl is one of those places, one of those starts for me that laid the foundation to be able to do that.”

Atkins was an eight-time Pro Bowler, Mack a seven-timer and Sherman a five-timer. Atkins played at Georgia, Mack at California and Sherman at Stanford.

“A really big honor to be here,” Mack said. “I loved when I played in the Senior Bowl, and to have them recognize that I had a great career and come out here and put on a big show and be part of it and play some golf tomorrow, it’ll be fun.”

The fifth annual Senior Bowl Charities Celebrity Golf Classic will be held on Monday at Lakewood Golf Club in Point Clear. The golf event pairs more than 20 foursomes with celebrities from the football world, including the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame inductees.

Proceeds from the golf tournament benefit the Mobile Baldwin Athletic Partnership, established in 2021. This program provides resources ranging from pants and jerseys to blocking sleds and video technology for underfunded public high school football programs in the two-county area.

Gruden is the seventh Senior Bowl Hall of Fame member enshrined for his work as an NFL coach and the first to join the Hall of Fame’s roster since 2012.

“It’s one of the best honors I’ve had in my life,” Gruden said. “It’s a football town now. It’s a football place, Mobile, Alabama. And this is a special game. I think Paul Brown and Tom Landry are two coaches that are in the Hall of Fame here for the Senior Bowl, and to even be mentioned with those guys is as good an honor as you could ever imagine.”

The other coaches enshrined for their NFL work include Weeb Ewbank, Dan Reeves, Don Shula and Marty Shottenheimer.

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