Buck Belue’s path to his induction on Saturday into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame started in Valdosta.
Though Belue was born in Macon and his nickname came from one of the city’s legendary coaches, his love of sports was sharpened by watching his beloved Valdosta Wildcats football team, led by Wright Bazemore, on Friday nights.
“To me that was as big as (Vince) Lombardi up in Green Bay,” he said. “I wish my sons could experience something like that. It didn’t get any bigger than that.”
With that love of sports combined with a hatred of losing, some good people and some good fortune, Belue became one of the more notable names in Georgia sports history for his exploits at Valdosta and then at Georgia. He will be honored Saturday, along with Skip Caray (Braves announcer), J.B. Hawkins (high school basketball coach), Heather Stepp McCormick (UGA gymnast), and Reggie Wilkes (Georgia Tech linebacker) as the newest inductees in a ceremony at the Macon City Auditorium.
“I was blessed with enough ability to play the games and the tremendous people I was around,” he said. “I consider myself fortunate more than anything else.”
Belue, who now co-hosts a radio on show on 680AM, said he owes a special debt to Bazemore, without whom this honor may have never happened.
When Belue was in middle school, Bazemore told his coach that he wanted Belue switched to quarterback.
Belue went on to become the only quarterback to start every game all four years at Valdosta, leading the Wildcats to a 34-14 record. He also pitched a one-hitter in the deciding game of the state baseball championship series.
He went on to quarterback Georgia to a national championship in 1980 and back-to-back SEC championships in 1980 and ’81.
“I owe him so much,” he said of Bazemore.
After college, he played three years of professional baseball in the Montreal Expos organization, fulfilling his childhood dream of being a pro baseball player. He said he realized that pro baseball might be a reach as soon as he saw Andre Dawson take batting practice.
“I knew the writing was on the wall,” he said.
Belue has donated a few items for his exhibit at the Hall. Among the items in his display will be an old high school football jersey and possibly one of his Georgia baseball jerseys. He said he’s going to hold onto the jersey he was wore when Georgia beat Florida on his famous pass to Lindsay Scott. It will remain at his home in one of his son’s rooms. So will his first home run as a pro. It will remain in his other son’s room.
Belue has one regret about the ceremony: his dad, Ben, won’t be there. He died last year. Buck said they will leave an empty chair at the table for him.
Belue will be joined by his wife Kelley, his mom, his two brothers, Butch Brooks, who was his baseball coach at Valdosta, and former Georgia assistant football coach Mike Cavan and his wife.
Despite his accomplishments, and the fact that this will be his fourth Hall of Fame, Belue said he doesn’t feel like he’s anything special.
“I feel like one of the luckiest guys around,” he said. “As you get older you look back and figure some things out.”
