05/01/2024
GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES 100-PLAYER BALLOT FOR 2024 ...
Here is Todd Holcomb's story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the new 100-player ballot for the 2024 Class of the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame ... Class will be announced mid-month and induction is Oct. 26 at the College Football Hall of Fame ...
Former Georgia football stars David Greene, Alec Ogletree and Thomas Davis, Georgia Tech legends Kim King and Demaryius Thomas and Atlanta Falcons greats Jessie Tuggle and Alfred Jenkins are among the 40 newest Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame ballot members released Wednesday.
The new list also includes Clemson national championship quarterback Homer Jordan and College Football Hall of Fame coach Frank Broyles.
The hall’s board members will vote to select 32 played from a 100-player ballot next month for induction in October. The latest 40 replace the 40 inducted in the 2023 class.
Greene was a quarterback at South Gwinnett, leading the Comets to an eight- and nine-win seasons in 1998-99 after they’d gone 0-10 his sophomore year. Greene was a four-year starter at Georgia.
Ogletree, from Newnan, was the Class 5A defensive player of the year in 2009, then an All-SEC defensive back at Georgia who played 10 NFL seasons.
Davis at Georgia and Thomas at Georgia Tech were All-American college players and All-Pro NFL players, each from small rural Georgia high schools – Davis at Randolph-Clay and Thomas at West Laurens.
King, Tech’s long-time radio color commentator who died in 2004, was the Class 3A Back of the year for Atlanta’s Brown High in 1962, then a three-year starting quarterback and Tech.
Jenkins would become the Falcons’ all-time leading receiver and Tuggle their all-time leading tackler. Both were underrated all-state high school players. Jenkins, from Hogansville, went to Morris Brown while Tuggle, of Griffin, went to Valdosta State.
Broyles was a three-sport high school star at Decatur High before becoming Georgia Tech’s 1946 Orange Bowl quarterback and more famously Arkansas’ football coach who won seven Southwest Conference titles and one national championship.
The new ballot members span from Jack “The Ripper” Roberts, a former Georgia All-American and NFL player who led Albany to 9-1 finishes in 1926 and 1927, to Mitch Hyatt, a two-time All-American and national champion at Clemson who was an AJC Super 11 player at North Gwinnett in 2014.
Three new ballot members played in the Georgia Interscholastic Association, which ran sports for African American schools though 1970. They are former NFL players and Super Bowl winners George Atkinson of Tompkins and Frank Pitts of Archer along with former Spencer star Wallace Davis.
Other interesting new ballot members include James Jackson, Georgia’s first full-time African American starting quarterback in the 1980s. In high school, he was known as the dual-threat “Thrilla from Camilla” while leading Mitchell-Baker to the 1983 Class 3A championship.
Other former Georgia players added to the ballot are Abry Jones of Northside-Warner Robins, Curt McGill of Brookwood, Travis Stroud of Dunwoody, Curt Douglas of Lincoln County, David McCluskey of West Rome, Knox Culpepper of Lovett, Mack Guest of Central-Macon, Billy Brice of Avondale and John Carson of Roosevelt.
The Hall of Fame is managed by Score Atlanta, a local marketing company. It has 40 voting board members of former coaches, players, administrators and media. Inductions take place at the College Football Hall of Fame downtown.
Below are the new ballot members, those returning to the ballot and those inducted in the 2022 and 2023 classes.
New on the ballot:
Pos. Player High school Senior season
RB Jack "The Ripper" Roberts Albany 1927
HB Bill Paschal Tech 1939
HB Frank Broyles Decatur 1941
HB Jack Peek Tech 1944
HB Bobby North Tech 1946
E John Carson Roosevelt 1948
WR/DB Frank Pitts Archer 1960
QB Kim King Brown 1962
RB/WR Giles Smith Valdosta 1962
G/LB Wallace Davis Spencer 1962
LB George Atkinson Johnson-Savannah 1964
WR Billy Brice Avondale 1966
QB Bobby Scott Rossville 1966
RB Brent Cunningham Putnam County 1967
WR Alfred Jenkins Hogansville 1968
OL Robert Shaw Wheeler 1974
L Mack Guest Central-Macon 1974
QB Gordon Beckham Jr. Westminster 1978
RB Ricky Williams Griffin 1978
QB Homer Jordan Cedar Shoals 1978
LB/RB Knox Culpepper Lovett 1980
RB Cedric Jones Lowndes 1980
RB David McCluskey West Rome 1982
LB Jessie Tuggle Griffin 1982
QB James Jackson Mitchell-Baker 1983
RB Terry Allen Banks County 1985
DL David Rocker Fulton 1986
LB Curt Douglas Lincoln County 1987
LB Dexter Daniels Valdosta 1991
DL Travis Stroud Dunwoody 1993
L Curt McGill Brookwood 1996
QB David Greene South Gwinnett 1999
DB Thomas Davis Randolph-Clay 2000
LB Sam Olajubutu LaGrange 2001
WR Demaryius Thomas West Laurens 2005
DB Reshad Jones Washington 2005
DL Abry Jones Northside-Warner Robins 2008
DB/TE Alec Ogletree Newnan 2009
RB Isaiah Crowell Carver-Columbus 2010
OL Mitch Hyatt North Gwinnett 2014
Returning to ballot (60):
Pos. Player High school Senior season
B Everett Strupper Riverside Military 1913
E Tom Nash Washington-Wilkes 1922
FB Johnny "Stumpy" Thomason Tech 1924
H Lauren Hargrove Fitzgerald 1948
B Max Mason Rockmart 1950
B Milton Byard Risley (Brunswick) 1950
HB Johnny Menger Richmond Academy 1952
L Ken Rice Bainbridge 1956
L Phil Ashe Stone Mountain 1956
L Pete Case Decatur 1957
QB John Henry Jackson Spencer 1957
RB Jimmy Burson LaGrange 1958
B Len Hauss Wayne County 1959
QB Silas Jamison Washington 1959
RB Marvin Hurst Waycross 1961
L Edgar Chandler Cedartown 1963
DE/LB Tommy Hart Ballard-Hudson 1963
DB Ken Ellis Bunche (Camden County) 1965
QB Jack Pitts Trinity (Decatur) 1965
QB/RB Dennis Chadwick Decatur 1967
RB Isaac Jackson Lanier-Macon 1969
RB Doyle Orange Waycross 1969
L Henry Childs Douglass-Thomasville 1969
QB Jeff Bower Roswell 1970
QB Stan Bounds Valdosta 1971
LB Andy Spiva Chamblee 1972
RB Runt Moon Commerce 1973
LB Ben Zambiasi Mount de Sales 1973
DE Reggie Wilkes Southwest Atlanta 1973
OL Kent Hill Americus 1974
QB Jim Bob Harris Clark Central 1977
LB Chip Banks Laney 1977
L Lee North Shamrock 1977
DB Joey Browner Southwest Atlanta 1978
RB Robert Lavette Cartersville 1980
OL Bill Mayo Dalton 1980
QB Vince Sutton LaGrange 1983
RB Jerry Mays Thomson 1984
DL John Johnson LaGrange 1986
LB/DL Coleman Rudolph Valdosta 1988
QB Terry Harvey Dacula 1990
OL Clay Shiver Tift County 1990
RB Robert Toomer Worth County 1991
QB Rodney Hudson LaGrange 1992
OL Cosey Coleman Southwest DeKalb 1995
RB Patrick Pass Tucker 1995
RB Jasper Sanks Carver-Columbus 1996
RB Joe Burns Thomas County Central 1997
QB Fabian Walker Americus 1998
RB Daccus Turman Washington-Wilkes 2000
TE Leonard Pope Americus 2001
DL Kedric Golston Sandy Creek 2001
LB Tray Blackmon LaGrange 2004
OL Chris Scott Lovejoy 2004
OL Duke Robinson Washington 2004
DL Jermaine Cunningham Stephenson 2005
RB Jonathan Dwyer Kell 2006
WR Tavarres King Habersham Central 2007
RB/LB Jonathan Davis Tucker 2008
QB Hutson Mason Lassiter 2009
Past inductees (85):
Pos. Player High school Senior season
HB Bob McWhorter Gordon Institute 1909
E Vernon "Catfish" Smith Lanier-Macon 1927
B Bill Hartman Georgia Military Prep 1933
HB Clint Castleberry Boys 1941
B Billy Henderson Lanier-Macon 1945
E George Maloof Marist 1947
QB Pepper Rodgers Brown 1949
B Larry Morris Decatur 1950
OL Jim Parker Ballard-Hudson 1951
G/LB Pat Dye Richmond Academy 1956
QB Fran Tarkenton Athens 1956
QB Stan Gann Northside-Atlanta 1957
B Ernie Green Spencer 1957
QB Billy Lothridge Gainesville 1959
L Bill Curry College Park 1959
QB Dan Reeves Americus 1960
QB Bruce Bennett Valdosta 1961
B Emerson Boozer Laney 1961
OL Rayfield Wright Fairmont 1962
L Bill Stanfill Cairo 1964
L Otis Sistrunk Spencer 1964
DL Julius Adams Ballard-Hudson 1965
DB Mel Blount Lyons Industrial 1965
L/FB Chip Kell Avondale 1966
WR/CB Clarence Scott Trinity 1966
QB Charlie Dudish Avondale 1967
QB/DB Buzy Rosenberg Northside-Atlanta 1968
QB/P Ray Guy Thomson 1968
RB Andy Johnson Athens 1969
QB Ray Goff Moultrie 1972
QB Anthony Flanagan Southwest Atlanta 1973
LB Lucius Sanford West Fulton 1973
WR/TE Stan Rome Valdosta 1973
RB Eddie Lee Ivery Thomson 1974
RB William Andrews Thomasville 1974
LB Mackel Harris Americus 1975
OL/LB Ray Donaldson East Rome 1975
RB George Rogers Duluth 1976
QB/DB Scott Woerner Jonesboro 1976
RB James Brooks Warner Robins 1976
DL Ron Simmons Warner Robins 1976
DL/FB Larry Kinnebrew East Rome 1977
QB Buck Belue Valdosta 1977
TE/L Guy McIntyre Thomasville 1978
DL Richard Dent Murphy 1978
RB Herschel Walker Johnson County 1979
LB/DB Pat Swilling Stephens County 1981
OL John Davis Gilmer 1982
DL Tracy Rocker Fulton 1983
RB Keith Henderson Cartersville 1984
TE Shannon Sharpe Glennville 1985
QB Charlie Ward Central-Thomasville 1987
LB/DB Ken Swilling Stephens County 1987
RB Garrison Hearst Lincoln County 1989
WR Andre Hastings Morrow 1989
QB Eric Zeier Marietta 1990
QB Al Pinkins Mitchell-Baker 1990
LB Randall Godfrey Lowndes 1991
TE/OL Adam Meadows McEachern 1991
OL Jeff Saturday Shamrock 1992
QB Mike Bobo Thomasville 1992
QB Hines Ward Forest Park 1993
DL Marcus Stroud Brooks County 1994
OL Matt Stinchcomb Parkview 1994
LB/TE Takeo Spikes Washington County 1994
DB Deon Grant Josey 1995
OL Jeff Backus Norcross 1995
QB Quincy Carter Southwest DeKalb 1995
DB Champ Bailey Charlton County 1995
RB Jamal Lewis Douglass 1996
RB/DL Charles Grant Miller County 1997
OL Jon Stinchcomb Parkview 1997
QB Terrence Edwards Washington County 1997
WR Reggie Brown Carrollton 1998
RB Ronnie Brown Cartersville 1999
RB Monte Williams Commerce 2000
DL David Pollack Shiloh 2000
QB D.J. Shockley North Clayton 2000
DB/WR Jeff Francoeur Parkview 2001
RB Darius Walker Buford 2003
DL Charles Johnson Hawkinsville 2003
WR Calvin Johnson Sandy Creek 2003
QB/DB Eric Berry Creekside 2006
LB Rennie Curran Brookwood 2006
LB Jarvis Jones Carver-Columbus 2008
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