EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first feature highlighting seven inductees for the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame. One feature will run each day running up to the inauguration event Saturday, June 19.
Paul Alsbury made a name for himself with his foot.
While playing for the Edinburg Bobcats, people began to take notice of his booming punts. His skill earned him opportunities to punt in college and even the pros.
“I don’t know how I got good at it,” Alsbury wrote in an email. “I never got any private lessons or went to any kicking camps to have my technique analyzed. It was pure instinct.”
Now, Alsbury will be forever recognized for his superior legwork. He is set to be inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday at the Mission Event Center.
The 33rd annual induction ceremony will enshrine seven inductees, bringing the hall’s membership to 272. Other inductees include former McAllen High volleyball coach Paula Dodge, former San Isidro basketball coach Rolando Garza, sports journalist Greg Selber, former McAllen Memorial High football coach Bill Littleton, multi-sport official Mario Reyna and longtime track & field coach Larry Howell.
This is the class of 2020, but their enshrinement was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hall’s Board of Directors decided not to select a 2021 class so this class could get inducted on its own.
Alsbury was a four-sport letterman at Edinburg High, where he graduated in 1987. In football, he played safety and was the Bobcats’ punter for three years under coach Richard Flores, an RGV Sports Hall of Fame inductee in 1992.
He still holds fond memories from his days as a Bobcats player.
“(I remember) Playing under the lights with guys that I grew up with,” Alsbury said. “Hearing the roar of the crowd … and winning.”
In baseball, he played in the 1987 Texas All-Star Baseball Classic in the Houston Astrodome. He received All-Valley recognition in both sports. Despite missing nine games because of illness during his senior season, he managed to receive a full scholarship to Southwest Texas State.
Alsbury lettered four years at SWT as the team’s punter and was selected to the All-Southland Conference first team in 1989 and 1990. He shared punting duties as a freshman and became the team’s top punter as a sophomore. He was All-SLC honorable mention in 1988. He punted for an average of 44.9 yards in 1990, which was seventh-best in the nation. It earned him All-America honorable mention. He also played safety in college.
A punter can impact a game by keeping an opponent pinned in its own end of the field. Like baseball’s relief pitchers, the punter is often called upon to get his team out of a jam. Alsbury took pride in that role.
“I most enjoyed that, through punting, I could actually positively affect our outcome,” Alsbury said. “Field position was a factor that could win or lose a close game.”
In the pros, he enjoyed stints with three teams, including the Dallas Cowboys.
He attended the NFL Combine and was drafted in the 11th round of the 1991 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots as a punter. A year later, the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football (later known as NFL Europe) drafted him as a punter. In 1996, he participated in the Dallas Cowboys’ off-season program, including training camp, but was released before the season began.
“Professional football was a dream come true,” he said. “I was dancing with the stars.”
Alsbury is now a coach at Edinburg CISD’s Brewster School, educating elementary and middle school-aged children.
Founded in 1985, the RGV Sports Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing recognition to people who have brought positive exposure to the Rio Grande Valley throughout the state or nation through their participation in sports as an athlete, coach, official, trainer, journalist or other sports-related position.
For more information, visit rgvshof.net.