Black football hall to honor unsung stars

Less than a month after Atlanta was named the new home of the College Football Hall of Fame, two former NFL stars said Friday they plan to base a hall of fame for players from black colleges here as well.

Initially, the Black College Football Hall of Fame will consist of a Web tribute players from such schools as Grambling State University, Morehouse College and Florida A&M. But its first-ever induction will be Feb. 20 at the Four Seasons Atlanta. Gary Stokan, who led the effort to bring the national college football here, said room will be made in that building for black college hall winners.

The prime organizers of the black hall of fame, former NFL quarterbacks James "Shack" Harris and Doug Williams, said the city was chosen because of its central proximity to many of the country's black universities.

"There is no other place to have the Black College Football Hall of Fame but Atlanta, Georgia," said Williams, who led the Washington Redskins to a Super Bowl win 1988. "I'm happy with that choice."

Williams said they hope to someday have a building for their hall of fame, but added that "it's not about housing . . . the important thing right now is that we mobilize it."

The two players, who oversee the Shack Harris & Doug Williams Foundation, said they have been kicking the hall idea around for a while. They want to educate fans about unsung heroes at black colleges, many of whom may have been lost to time, and honor more recent standouts.The selection process will reach back as far as 50 years.

"Preserving our great history. That's what this project is all about," Harris said.

The hall -- whose Web site is www.BlackCollegeFootballHOF.org -- will induct eight athletes, seven players and coaches and one contributor. An inductee committee will have its first meeting on Tuesday.