The Jacksonville Jaguars will host their annual Alumni Weekend when they play the Buffalo Bills at 1 p.m. Sunday at EverBank Field. More than 40 former Jaguars players are expected to be on hand, to be introduced on the field before the game and to help honor former quarterback Mark Brunell at halftime when he is inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars.
"Mark Brunell is a big part of the Jaguars family and the Jacksonville community," Jaguars Owner Shad Khan said, "and it gives me great pride to join our fans in recognizing Mark and honoring him for his contributions to Jaguars history. And we're looking forward to welcoming back many of the players who wore the Jaguars uniform in the past. These men helped build this franchise and they helped create a lot of great memories for our fans, so it'll be a good day of recognizing them as well as honoring Mark."
Brunell will join former offensive tackle Tony Boselli (2006), former owners Wayne and Delores Weaver (2011) and running back Fred Taylor (2012) as the fifth member of the Pride of the Jaguars.
In addition to Brunell, the players expected to make an appearance Sunday include Bryan Barker, Reggie Barlow, Aaron Beasley, Tony Boselli, Kyle Brady, Fernando Bryant, Michael Cheever, Marco Coleman, Rich Collier, Donovin Darius, Don Davey, Travis Davis, Todd Fordham, Paul Frase, Mike Hollis, Greg Huntington, Damon Jones, Jeff Kopp, Jeff Lageman, Mike Logan, Chris Luzar, Lonnie Marts, Marlon McCree, Tom McManus, Rob Meier, Will Moore, Tom Myslinski, Jeff Novak, Todd Philcox, Jimmy Redmond, James Roberson, Micah Ross, Isaac Smolko, Paul Spicer, Marcus Stroud, Fred Taylor, Patrick Venzke, Dave Widell, Maurice Williams and Renaldo Wynn.
Owner of nearly every Jaguars passing record, Brunell is one of 13 players in Jaguars history to play nine seasons or more. He started 117 of his 120 games played and completed 2,184 of 3,616 passes for 25,698 yards with 144 touchdowns and 86 interceptions – all still ranking as Jaguars career records. Brunell's 4,367 passing yards in 1996 led the NFL, he was voted to the AFC Pro Bowl squad three times and was named the game's MVP in 1997.
Brunell was the first player acquired by the Jaguars in a trade, joining the team on April 22, 1995 from the Green Bay Packers. He was the Jaguars' starting quarterback from 1995 through 2003, posting a winning record as a starter and leading the team to four playoff berths, eight postseason games and two AFC Championship games.