High School Sports

Georgia HS Football Hall of Fame adds 40 to ballot

Greene, Davis, Ogletree from UGA; King, Thomas from Tech; Tuggle, Jenkins from Falcons
Newnan safety/tight end Alec Ogletree was the AJC’s 2009 Class 5A defensive player of the year in 2009. He was an All-SEC player at Georgia who played nine NFL seasons.
Newnan safety/tight end Alec Ogletree was the AJC’s 2009 Class 5A defensive player of the year in 2009. He was an All-SEC player at Georgia who played nine NFL seasons.
By
May 1, 2024

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:

Returning to ballot (60):

Pos. Player High school Senior season
RBJack "The Ripper" RobertsAlbany1927
HBBill PaschalTech1939
HBFrank BroylesDecatur1941
HBJack PeekTech1944
HBBobby NorthTech1946
EJohn CarsonRoosevelt1948
WR/DBFrank PittsArcher1960
QBKim KingBrown1962
RB/WRGiles SmithValdosta1962
G/LBWallace DavisSpencer1962
LBGeorge AtkinsonJohnson-Savannah1964
WRBilly BriceAvondale1966
QBBobby ScottRossville1966
RBBrent CunninghamPutnam County1967
WRAlfred JenkinsHogansville1968
OLRobert ShawWheeler1974
LMack GuestCentral-Macon1974
QBGordon Beckham Jr.Westminster1978
RBRicky WilliamsGriffin1978
QBHomer JordanCedar Shoals1978
LB/RBKnox CulpepperLovett1980
RBCedric JonesLowndes1980
RBDavid McCluskeyWest Rome1982
LBJessie TuggleGriffin1982
QBJames JacksonMitchell-Baker1983
RBTerry AllenBanks County1985
DLDavid RockerFulton1986
LBCurt DouglasLincoln County1987
LBDexter DanielsValdosta1991
DLTravis StroudDunwoody1993
LCurt McGillBrookwood1996
QBDavid GreeneSouth Gwinnett1999
DBThomas DavisRandolph-Clay2000
LBSam OlajubutuLaGrange2001
WRDemaryius ThomasWest Laurens2005
DBReshad JonesWashington2005
DLAbry JonesNorthside-Warner Robins2008
DB/TEAlec OgletreeNewnan2009
RBIsaiah CrowellCarver-Columbus2010
OLMitch HyattNorth Gwinnett2014

Past inductees (85):

Pos. Player High school Senior season
BEverett StrupperRiverside Military1913
ETom NashWashington-Wilkes1922
FBJohnny "Stumpy" ThomasonTech1924
HLauren HargroveFitzgerald1948
BMax MasonRockmart1950
BMilton ByardRisley (Brunswick)1950
HBJohnny MengerRichmond Academy1952
LKen RiceBainbridge1956
LPhil AsheStone Mountain1956
LPete CaseDecatur1957
QBJohn Henry JacksonSpencer1957
RBJimmy BursonLaGrange1958
BLen HaussWayne County1959
QBSilas JamisonWashington1959
RBMarvin HurstWaycross1961
LEdgar ChandlerCedartown1963
DE/LBTommy HartBallard-Hudson1963
DBKen EllisBunche (Camden County)1965
QBJack PittsTrinity (Decatur)1965
QB/RBDennis ChadwickDecatur1967
RBIsaac JacksonLanier-Macon1969
RBDoyle OrangeWaycross1969
LHenry ChildsDouglass-Thomasville1969
QBJeff BowerRoswell1970
QBStan BoundsValdosta1971
LBAndy SpivaChamblee1972
RBRunt MoonCommerce1973
LBBen ZambiasiMount de Sales1973
DEReggie WilkesSouthwest Atlanta1973
OLKent HillAmericus1974
QBJim Bob HarrisClark Central1977
LBChip BanksLaney1977
LLee NorthShamrock1977
DBJoey BrownerSouthwest Atlanta1978
RBRobert LavetteCartersville1980
OLBill MayoDalton1980
QBVince SuttonLaGrange1983
RBJerry MaysThomson1984
DLJohn JohnsonLaGrange1986
LB/DLColeman RudolphValdosta1988
QBTerry HarveyDacula1990
OLClay ShiverTift County1990
RBRobert ToomerWorth County1991
QBRodney HudsonLaGrange1992
OLCosey ColemanSouthwest DeKalb1995
RBPatrick PassTucker1995
RBJasper SanksCarver-Columbus1996
RBJoe BurnsThomas County Central1997
QBFabian WalkerAmericus1998
RBDaccus TurmanWashington-Wilkes2000
TELeonard PopeAmericus2001
DLKedric GolstonSandy Creek2001
LBTray BlackmonLaGrange2004
OLChris ScottLovejoy2004
OLDuke RobinsonWashington2004
DLJermaine CunninghamStephenson2005
RBJonathan DwyerKell2006
WRTavarres KingHabersham Central2007
RB/LBJonathan DavisTucker2008
QBHutson MasonLassiter2009

About the Author

Todd Holcomb covers high school sports across the state. He rejoined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2025 and has worked with the AJC in varying capacities since 1985. He is a co-founder and editor of Georgia High School Football Daily.

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Pos. Player High school Senior season
HBBob McWhorterGordon Institute1909
EVernon "Catfish" SmithLanier-Macon1927
BBill HartmanGeorgia Military Prep1933
HBClint CastleberryBoys1941
BBilly HendersonLanier-Macon1945
EGeorge MaloofMarist1947
QBPepper RodgersBrown1949
BLarry MorrisDecatur1950
OLJim ParkerBallard-Hudson1951
G/LBPat DyeRichmond Academy1956
QBFran TarkentonAthens1956
QBStan GannNorthside-Atlanta1957
BErnie GreenSpencer1957
QBBilly LothridgeGainesville1959
LBill CurryCollege Park1959
QBDan ReevesAmericus1960
QBBruce BennettValdosta1961
BEmerson BoozerLaney1961
OLRayfield WrightFairmont1962
LBill StanfillCairo1964
LOtis SistrunkSpencer1964
DLJulius AdamsBallard-Hudson1965
DBMel BlountLyons Industrial1965
L/FBChip KellAvondale1966
WR/CBClarence ScottTrinity1966
QBCharlie DudishAvondale1967
QB/DBBuzy RosenbergNorthside-Atlanta1968
QB/PRay GuyThomson1968
RBAndy JohnsonAthens1969
QBRay GoffMoultrie1972
QBAnthony FlanaganSouthwest Atlanta1973
LBLucius SanfordWest Fulton1973
WR/TEStan RomeValdosta1973
RBEddie Lee IveryThomson1974
RBWilliam AndrewsThomasville1974
LBMackel HarrisAmericus1975
OL/LBRay DonaldsonEast Rome1975
RBGeorge RogersDuluth1976
QB/DBScott WoernerJonesboro1976
RBJames BrooksWarner Robins1976
DLRon SimmonsWarner Robins1976
DL/FBLarry KinnebrewEast Rome1977
QBBuck BelueValdosta1977
TE/LGuy McIntyreThomasville1978
DLRichard DentMurphy1978
RBHerschel WalkerJohnson County1979
LB/DBPat SwillingStephens County1981
OLJohn DavisGilmer1982
DLTracy RockerFulton1983
RBKeith HendersonCartersville1984
TEShannon SharpeGlennville1985
QBCharlie WardCentral-Thomasville1987
LB/DBKen SwillingStephens County1987
RBGarrison HearstLincoln County1989
WRAndre HastingsMorrow1989
QBEric ZeierMarietta1990
QBAl PinkinsMitchell-Baker1990
LBRandall GodfreyLowndes1991
TE/OLAdam MeadowsMcEachern1991
OLJeff SaturdayShamrock1992
QBMike BoboThomasville1992
QBHines WardForest Park1993
DLMarcus StroudBrooks County1994
OLMatt StinchcombParkview1994
LB/TETakeo SpikesWashington County1994
DBDeon GrantJosey1995
OLJeff BackusNorcross1995
QBQuincy CarterSouthwest DeKalb1995
DBChamp BaileyCharlton County1995
RBJamal LewisDouglass1996
RB/DLCharles GrantMiller County1997
OLJon StinchcombParkview1997
QBTerrence EdwardsWashington County1997
WRReggie BrownCarrollton1998
RBRonnie BrownCartersville1999
RBMonte WilliamsCommerce2000
DLDavid PollackShiloh2000
QBD.J. ShockleyNorth Clayton2000
DB/WRJeff FrancoeurParkview2001
RBDarius WalkerBuford2003
DLCharles JohnsonHawkinsville2003
WRCalvin JohnsonSandy Creek2003
QB/DBEric BerryCreekside2006
LBRennie CurranBrookwood2006
LBJarvis JonesCarver-Columbus2008