Former Georgia high school football stars Calvin Johnson, Takeo Spikes and Ben Zambiasi and 300-game winning coach T. McFerrin were announced Monday as inductees into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame’s class of 2019.
They will join track-and-field standout Brenda Cliette, broadcaster Ernie Johnson Jr., Atlanta Peach Bowl president Gary Stokan and baseball star Mark Teixeira in induction ceremonies Feb. 22-23 in Macon.
Calvin Johnson, an AJC Super 11 pick out of Sandy Creek High in 2003, went on to Georgia Tech, where he was an All-American, and played nine seasons in the NFL with the Detroit Lions. Johnson was a three-time first-team All Pro selection as a wide receiver.
Spikes was the all-classification player of the year in Georgia in 1994, when he led Washington County to a Class AA championship. A linebacker, Spikes played at Auburn and for 15 seasons in the NFL and made two Pro Bowls.
Zambiasi was a linebacker on three state-championship teams in the 1970s at Mount de Sales in Macon. He was a 1976 All-American on Georgia’s SEC championship team. Zambiasi is a member of Georgia’s Ring of Honor and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
McFerrin won 341 games over 38 years as a head coach. He led Jefferson (2012) and Elbert County (1995) to their first and only state championships. McFerrin coached eight different Georgia schools, and seven of them won region titles. He is the only coach in Georgia history to lead five different schools to the semifinals or better.
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