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Danny Amendola, Cory Carr, Taylor Lytle among Texas Tech Hall of Fame inductees
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- Danny Amendola, Cory Carr, Taylor Lytle among Texas Tech Hall of Fame inductees
In his four years as a Texas Tech football player, Danny Amendola caught more than 200 passes and earned some level of all-Big 12 recognition three times. He went on to a 13-year career in the NFL, won two Super Bowls and still ranks 116th all-time in all-purpose yards, right behind Calvin Johnson and Travis Kelce and just ahead of Alvin Kamara and Ezekiel Elliott .
And this fall, he's been seen on Dancing With the Stars .
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Not that Amendola pictured that for himself. He joined the Red Raiders as an undersized 5-foot-11 receiver with modest recruiting credentials.
"Even when I was here, I never (dreamed ahead). It was always one day at a time, one week at a time," Amendola said. "And in the NFL, it's a pretty cutthroat business. You never know when it could be your last day to play the game, so I approached every day as if it was my last. I never really came up for air until the end of my career."
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Amendola made the observation Friday night during his induction into the Tech Athletics Hall of Fame. Joining him in the 2024 class of six were basketball player Cory Carr (1994-98), volleyball player Amanda Dowdy (2008-11), soccer player Taylor Lytle (2008-11) and track and field athletes Ifeatu Okafor (2010-13) and Omo Osaghae (2007-11).
Former Texas Tech football wide receiver Danny Amendola speaks during the Texas Tech athletics Hall of Fame ceremony on Nov. 8, 2024 in Lubbock.
Tech track and field coach Wes Kittley, who's led the program to two national championships, was inducted into the Hall of Honor, which recognizes non-athletes. Early 1990s wide receiver Derrell "Mookie" Mitchell received the Heritage Award, which recognizes former Tech athletes for achievements after leaving the university. Mitchell was a 2016 inductee into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame and is the current alumni association president for the CFL's Edmonton Elks.
Related: Former Texas Tech WR Mitchell inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame
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Amendola wasn't the only Hall of Fame inductee whose Tech career far exceeded their own expectations. In the ceremony at the Memorial Civic Center, several others shared some variation on that theme.
Carr came from tiny Kingsland, Arkansas, whose most recent census count was 347. He was a high-scoring guard on teams that went a combined 82-35, then enjoyed a long pro career overseas, playing and coaching. Carr's been a longtime resident of Israel and has twin sons who are NFL defensive backs: Tristin McCollum of the Philadelphia Eagles and Zyon McCollum with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers .
"I've come full circle," Carr told the crowd. "It's well appreciated, and you have to pinch yourself a little bit to be back and to be recognized in this way."
Okafor said her "athletic journey was honestly, truly a miracle." Not physically ready to compete, she redshirted her first year at Tech.
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"I was slightly smaller than my competitors," she said, "so I was definitely an underdog. I came in significantly underdeveloped. I wasn't in position to be on anybody's (awards) podium."
She became a Big 12 champion and a first-team all-American in the shot put and in 2013 was named the NCAA woman of the year , an award that combines academics, athletics, community service and leadership.
Former Texas Tech track athlete Ifeatu Okafor walks to the stage during the Texas Tech athletics Hall of Fame ceremony on Nov. 8, 2024 in Lubbock.
Osaghae, a Lubbock native who went to Evans Middle School and Monterey, was a four-time first-team all-American for the Red Raiders and still holds the school record in the 110-meter hurdles at 13.23 seconds. After turning pro, he was a three-time U.S. champion and one-time world champion in the 60-meter hurdles.
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"Being a kid from Lubbock, I didn't know a ton about track and field, being a football player at Monterey," Osaghae said. "A lot of people just took me under their wings and, to hit this point, they saw a lot in me that I didn't see in myself, right?"
Dowdy played professionally for eight years. She's one of only two Tech volleyball players to twice be first-team all-Big 12 and remains second in the school record book for kills. She had the challenge, however, of playing for three head coaches.
"I was more about the team than I was about the adversity I was going through," she said. "I knew it was going to make me better and stronger, and it did, and it played a key role in my professional career and taught me a lot of life lessons. I don't regret a single minute of it, because I have some amazing friendships that came of it and some awesome memories."
Lytle was one of the early cornerstone players for Tech soccer coach Tom Stone. She set the school record for career assists that stood until this year and played professionally for eight years.
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Stone, in Lytle's presentation video, called Lytle "a transformational player" for the program.
"We had some really good goal-scorers in the '90s, prior to my arrival," he said. "At the time I got here, there were some good pieces in the program, but Taylor stood apart from the total package of her game."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Danny Amendola, Cory Carr among Texas Tech Hall of Fame inductees
