Portales, NM – December 3, 2024 – Former ENMU Greyhound Football Players Steve Loy and Michael Sinclair have been elected to the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. Loy and Sinclair are the first former Greyhound football players to be inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame.
“I am most proud and humbled to know Micheal Sinclair and myself are the first two ENMU Greyhounds to be inducted into the NM Sports Hall of Fame,” said NMSHOF inductee Steve Loy. “New Mexico will always be my home, and Sandia High School and ENMU gave me all the opportunities as a player to earn this honor. I want to sincerely thank all the fellow members and the Board of the NM Sports Hall of Fame for this honor on behalf of my high school and college athletic programs, all the great coaches and players associated with me, and my entire family.”
Originally from Albuquerque, Loy was the team captain for the 1972 and 1973 Greyhound football teams, graduating from ENMU in 1974.
After college, Loy began a successful career as a collegiate golf coach and athletic administrator. Loy started his career at Scottsdale Community College as the head golf coach and a professor. He continued his career as an associate athletic director and head golf coach at the University of Arkansas and finally moved to Arizona State University as their head golf coach. Since 1992, he has served as the president of Gaylord Sports Management, Lagardere Unlimited, and SportFive (presently the largest golf sports agency in the world, operating in 41 countries on five continents).
As a college golf coach, Loy was a three-time national coach of the year, coached three NCAA National Championship Teams, and his 1990 Arizona State University Men’s and Women’s teams were the only teams to win the National Championships together in the same year. The dual-team win is the only time this has been accomplished in NCAA history.
When Loy moved into his management career, he owned and operated multiple golf properties throughout Arizona and is an avid investor in several businesses. He has coached or managed over 40 All-Americans, eight Ryder Cup players, seven national champions, four US Amateur champions, and two number-one professional golfers worldwide, including Hall of Famers Phil Mickelson and Davis Love. Additionally, Loy has represented some of the game’s superstars, including Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, and Davis Love, among others.
Loy has been inducted into several halls of fame over the course of his career, including the ENMU Athletics Hall of Honor, Scottsdale Community College Hall of Fame, NJCAA Coaches Hall of Fame, NCAA Coaches Hall of Fame, Arizona State and University of Arkansas Hall of Fame, and the Sandia High School Hall of Fame.
“It is with esteemed pleasure and humbleness that I feel elated, extremely grateful, and honored to be selected as one of the inductees for the 2025 Class of The New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame,” said NMSHOF inductee Michael Sinclair. “Words could never express how I feel to have been nominated, voted on, and selected for this prestigious honor. As a college student and former National Football League player, I dreamed of such honors. I worked tirelessly in my football career, college and professional, to always give it my best, show others what hard work can exemplify, and most of all, bring continued honor to the game of football, especially as a student having attended my prestigious Alma Mater, Eastern New Mexico University. Not only do I exude happiness for this honor, but my family does also. There is immeasurable joy in the Sinclair home.”
Michael Sinclair, originally from Galveston, Texas, came to ENMU and became an All-Lone Star Conference All-Decade Player, earning consecutive first-team All-LSC selections in 1989 and 1990 and was named the LSC defensive lineman of the year as a senior in 1990 as well as being named to the 1990 Associated Press Little All-American team for Division II. He concluded his ENMU career with 279 tackles, 45 tackles for a loss, and 30 sacks.
Drafted in the sixth round of the 1991 NFL Draft, Sinclair went on to a stellar career with the Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles, registering 353 tackles, 73.5 QB sacks, nine fumble recoveries, and two touchdowns over his 11-year NFL career.
Sinclair's distinguished career with the Seahawks included being named as an NFL Pro-Bowler three times; his 73.5 career sack total ranks second all-time in Seahawks history, and Sinclair has the most sacks of anyone in the entire 1991 draft class.
His best NFL season with the Seahawks was in 1998 when he became the single-season franchise record holder for sacks in one season with 16.5. The 16.5 sacks led the NFL in 1998. This helped Sinclair become an NFL Defensive Player of the Year finalist in 1998.
After his career, Sinclair has had several recognitions, including being elected to the ENMU Hall of Honors, being named to the Seahawks all-time GOAT team, being ranked as one of the Seahawk's top ten defensive players of all-time, and being named to the Seahawks all-time team.
“ENMU is proud to have been a part of the educational and professional journeys of these outstanding gentlemen,” said ENMU Chancellor James Johnston. “Their careers and achievements on and off the field serve as a model for our Greyhound family. On behalf of ENMU I extend congratulations to Coach Loy and Mr. Sinclair on this most deserved honor.”
Steve Loy and Michael Sinclair will be introduced as members of the 2024 Hall of Fame class at a press conference on Saturday, Dec. 28, at 9 a.m. at the PIT on the University of New Mexico campus. They will also be recognized during the New Mexico Bowl, which kicks off at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 28.
Steve Loy and Michael Sinclair will be inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame on June 29, 2025, at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information on the ceremony, visit www.nmshof.org.
For more information on Eastern New Mexico University Athletics and its long history of success, visit www.GoEasternAthletics.com.
