This is the last in a series of articles profiling the 2020 Butler County Sports Hall of Fame inductees.

HOUSTON, Tex. — The sports cycle continues along in Tyrell Sales' life.

“When I was 2 years old or so, there are pictures of me with a little basketball hoop in the background,” the 2004 Butler graduate said. “My wife and I's son is 19 months now and we got him a little basketball hoop.

“Sports have always been a fabric in my family.”

Why not?

It's certainly worked for him.

Sales went on to become a standout three-sport athlete at Butler High School and a starting linebacker for Penn State.

Two years after being inducted into the Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of Fame, Sales will be inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame during the organization's annual banquet at 6 p.m. Aug. 8 at the Butler Days Inn.

The banquet was originally scheduled for April 25 before being postponed.

“You never think about going into a Hall of Fame. I never thought that way when I was playing,” Sales said. “You play your whole career, you accomplish whatever you do.

“Years later, you get recognized for it by something like this. It's an honor I don't take lightly. It's special.”

Sales' career was special in its own right.

He was a stellar linebacker at Butler, a three-year starter who led the team in tackles and created big plays. He was a three-year starter in basketball who scored 1,205 points. Sales still ranks fourth on the Golden Tornado's career scoring list, trailing only Ethan Morton, Shawn Bellis and Mark Maier.

A three-year letterman in track and field as well, Sales set the school record in the discus with a toss of 173 feet, 6 inches. The throw was good enough to place third in the event at the PIAA Championships.

“I set that record on the next to last throw of my high school career,” Sales said. “That was a great way to go out.”

Sales ended each phase of his athletic career in memorable fashion. He closed his high school career by setting a record. He closed his Penn State career by playing against USC in the Rose Bowl.

He ended his overall athletic career by playing tight end and linebacker for Parma of the Italian Football League. Sales' final game was as a Super Bowl champion in the IFL.

“When I was released by my first team (Indianapolis Colts), my chances of making it (as a pro athlete) went from one in 10 to maybe one in a million,” he said. “Then I was cut by Montreal (CFL), then Jacksonville (Arena league). The opportunity came to play in Italy and that worked out for me.

“I never gave up the dream of playing pro ball, but I reset my focus. I'm a realist. That opportunity had passed. I never led the life of an NFL journeyman. I still have all my faculties. I'm still in great shape. I'm fortunate that way.”

Standing 6-foot-2 in high school, Sales said size — or lack of it — was the reason he opted to play football in college.

“I always played sports for the fun of it,” he said. “In 10th grade, when I started to get recruited and realized I had the opportunity to ge a scholarship ... It became a different beast.

“I loved basketball, but I wasn't big enough. Football was the way to go for me.”

Sales started 23 straght games at Penn State. He was a four-year letterman and tallied 154 career tackles. He played in the Orange, Outback and Alamo Bowls with the Nittany Lions, winning them all. Penn State lost the Rose Bowl in Sales' final collegiate game.

“Just playing in that game was special,” he said. “The pageantry, the tradition, two top-10 teams going at it, that was cool.

“We had 20-some seniors on that team. I rmembered when we were all freshmen. Working together to accomplish what we did in four years at Penn State was rewarding.”

Now a store manager in Texas, Sales remains active in sports. He plays golf, tennis, has boxing gloves and a medicine ball in his home.

“Just the way I've always been,” he said. “Growing up in Butler with my buiddies, it was always, let's go out and do something, be active, break a sweat, have fun.

“Those guys I played all those sports with in Butler, they're still some of my best friends today. That's the kind of relationships you build through sports.”

Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Tables of eight are $200. Tickets are available at Parker's Appliance in Chicora, Moses Jewelers at the Clearview Mall, The Butler Radio Network in Butler and Saxonburg Drug.