Hall of Fame
Tony McCombs was a three-year All-Ohio Valley Conference linebacker for the EKU football Colonels from 1994-96. His sophomore season, he was named third team Sports Network All-American and was EKU's and the OVC's top tackler with 146 hits that season as Eastern finished with a 10-3 record, won the conference crown, finished the season ranked fifth in the nation and advanced to the second round of the I-AA playoffs. His junior year, he gained second team All-American recognition and was the preseason I-AA National Defensive Player of the Year. He had eight double-digit tackle games that season and was chosen EKU's Defensive MVP as the Colonels finished 10th in the nation. His final season as a Colonel was his best as he was named first team All-American by four different outlets, was the OVC Defensive Player of the Year, while coming up with 60 solo tackles, 63 assists, 10.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. He was invited to play in all four post-season all-star games following the 1996 season and played in the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl contest. He was chosen in the sixth round of the 1997 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals and played three seasons for that club and two years with the Cleveland Browns. He was inducted into the Christian County High School Hall of Fame in 2004 and was one of just three linebackers to be selected to Eastern's All-Century Team in 2009.
