By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Neal Musser said he was plenty proud to be recognized by his alma mater with his induction into the Western Alamance Athletic Hall of Fame.
The former NFL linebacker showed up on campus pleased with something else as well.
“I’m back to my high school weight,” Musser said, noting he’s at about 185 pounds.
Musser, 66, and other inductees attended Friday night’s homecoming football game against Williams and then were inducted during a ceremony Saturday at Union Ridge Church.
He was joined in the school’s first induction class since 2014 by Connie Beckom, B.J. Evans, Wes Gilliam and the 1994 state-champion boys’ tennis team.
Musser, a 1976 Western graduate, didn’t want to spend a redshirt season at Elon, so he opted to play for Lees-McRae before transferring to North Carolina State. The linebacker was a nondrafted free agent when he hooked on with the Atlanta Falcons.
He was presented for induction by Glenn Goss, who was on the Western football coaching staff when Musser played for the Warriors.
“He was such a good player and he just kept doing the things he needed to do to make it all the way (to the NFL),” Goss said.
Musser played in the 1981 and 1982 seasons for the Falcons. While it was a different era, it was special to play on the professional level.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said.
Musser, who also competed in wrestling and track and field in high school, has lived in Wilmington for nearly 40 years. Most recently, he had a landscaping business.
Read about other Western inductees here: https://alamancenews.com/western-resumes-inductions-into-its-athletic-hall-of-fame-with-tennis-team-four-athletes/
And Eastern’s newest class of inductees, also inducted this weekend: https://alamancenews.com/eastern-inducts-six-into-its-athletic-hall-of-fame/
