WESTLAKE — Kevin Mack was all smiles Tuesday night.
The former Cleveland Browns star received the Dino Lucarelli Lifetime Achievement Award on Tuesday night at the National Football Foundation and Cleveland Touchdown Club Charities Athlete-Scholar Awards Banquet.
"When I was told that I had received this lifetime achievement award, I wasn't really sure they had the right person," said Mack, who is now the team's Alumni Relations manager.
With a wide smile, Mack — who was known for a quiet and businesslike approach on Sundays — played down the honor. "I just felt like I hadn't done enough or gotten far enough along in my life to receive a lifetime achievement award," he said.
Mack was the 11th overall pick in the 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft of USFL and CFL Players. Known affectionately by Clevelanders as the "Mack Truck," Mack played nine seasons for the Browns and was named to two Pro Bowls in 1985 and 1987.
Mack — a native of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and Clemson alum — is ninth on Cleveland's all-time scoring list with 324 points and the franchise's fifth all-time leading rusher with 5,123 yards. He was named a Cleveland Browns legend in 2007.
Mack praised Lucarelli, who held many roles with the Browns including player relations, media relations and alumni relations from 1975 to 2014, and others for laying a foundation for future success.
"Some of the things that I learned from these guys are amazing. The way they care about the players, the history of this team is just amazing. So I try to emulate that now. And it's real easy for me because I get to work with guys that I played with and the guys who were blazing the trail before we got into Cleveland," Mack said. "The Jim Browns, Paul Warfields, those guys. So I'm blessed and I'm lucky to be able to work with gentlemen like that who set the standard for the Cleveland Browns."
For the third straight year, the Cleveland Touchdown Club Charities and the National Football Foundation merged their annual awards banquets into one ceremony where standout college and high school scholar-athletes, coaches and other figures are recognized for their achievements.
Former Cleveland Browns star Robert Jackson was also honored Tuesday with the Distinguished American Award.
