The idea of a North-South football Hall of Fame took another step toward fruition Monday.
The idea of a North-South football Hall of Fame took another step toward fruition Monday.
Officials of the annual all-star game, which matches the state's top high school football players, introduced an inaugural class of seven Hall of Famers at a luncheon at the Charleston Marriott and plan to induct them at this year's game, scheduled for June 21 at Laidley Field. They expect to make it an annual event.
The purpose of a Hall of Fame, said assistant North-South director Mike Dunlap, is to promote the game and recognize former players, coaches and officials involved in the game, which dates back to 1934.
"I researched some of the other prominent high school all-star games,'' said Dunlap, a former Poca lineman who played in the 1984 game, "and all of them had a Hall of Fame. I wanted to get it going. With the game being in decline, I thought it was important not only to pick great athletes but people from the [Kanawha] Valley that would help draw a crowd.''
The class is led by Sam Huff, a Farmington native who played in the 1952 North-South Game, starred at West Virginia and, after a 14-year NFL career with the Giants and Redskins, earned a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Also selected:
Robert Alexander of South Charleston, a two-time Kennedy Award winner who played football at West Virginia and two seasons for the Los Angeles Rams;
Mike Barber of Winfield, who was voted Marshall's athlete of the 1980s and played with the 49ers, Bengals and Buccaneers;
Walter Easley of Charleston, a Parade All-America at Stonewall Jackson High School who played at West Virginia and two seasons with the 49ers, including the 1982 Super Bowl;
Charles McKown of Wayne, a first-team all-state football selection who played baseball at West Virginia, earned MVP honors in the 1952 North-South Game and is the dean of Marshall's medical school;
Kenny Wright, a former coach at Pennsboro and Ritchie County who worked as North-South director for 20 years;
Fred Wyant of Weston, a former WVU quarterback, three-time academic All-American and NFL official.
Dunlap, who began working as North-South assistant director last year, approached director Ralph Hensley with the Hall of Fame idea and, after receiving approval and doing research, contacted Huff, an obvious choice to head the Hall class.
The idea of a North-South football Hall of Fame took another step toward fruition Monday.
Officials of the annual all-star game, which matches the state's top high school football players, introduced an inaugural class of seven Hall of Famers at a luncheon at the Charleston Marriott and plan to induct them at this year's game, scheduled for June 21 at Laidley Field. They expect to make it an annual event.
The purpose of a Hall of Fame, said assistant North-South director Mike Dunlap, is to promote the game and recognize former players, coaches and officials involved in the game, which dates back to 1934.
"I researched some of the other prominent high school all-star games,'' said Dunlap, a former Poca lineman who played in the 1984 game, "and all of them had a Hall of Fame. I wanted to get it going. With the game being in decline, I thought it was important not only to pick great athletes but people from the [Kanawha] Valley that would help draw a crowd.''
The class is led by Sam Huff, a Farmington native who played in the 1952 North-South Game, starred at West Virginia and, after a 14-year NFL career with the Giants and Redskins, earned a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Also selected:
Robert Alexander of South Charleston, a two-time Kennedy Award winner who played football at West Virginia and two seasons for the Los Angeles Rams;
Mike Barber of Winfield, who was voted Marshall's athlete of the 1980s and played with the 49ers, Bengals and Buccaneers;
Walter Easley of Charleston, a Parade All-America at Stonewall Jackson High School who played at West Virginia and two seasons with the 49ers, including the 1982 Super Bowl;
Charles McKown of Wayne, a first-team all-state football selection who played baseball at West Virginia, earned MVP honors in the 1952 North-South Game and is the dean of Marshall's medical school;
Kenny Wright, a former coach at Pennsboro and Ritchie County who worked as North-South director for 20 years;
Fred Wyant of Weston, a former WVU quarterback, three-time academic All-American and NFL official.
Dunlap, who began working as North-South assistant director last year, approached director Ralph Hensley with the Hall of Fame idea and, after receiving approval and doing research, contacted Huff, an obvious choice to head the Hall class.
"As an old West Virginian, [you ask] who is the greatest football player from West Virginia? Sam Huff,'' Dunlap said Monday. "I contacted the Redskins. They gave me his contact information, never dreaming that I would hear from him simply because of how busy he is. I got an e-mail back, one thing led to another, he called and the rest is basically history. Once he came on board, it gave legitimacy to the Hall of Fame that couldn't be topped.''
Huff, who did not attend Monday's luncheon, is enthusiastic about the idea, said Dunlap.
"Sam Huff calls me every single day and talks about the North-South Game,'' said Dunlap, who won the 1985 Hunt Award as the state's top high school lineman.
"He has told me on more than one occasion that the North-South Game was a very important stepping stone for him. Everybody knows he came from a small coal camp in West Virginia, and he cares about West Virginia.''
Wyant also played in the 1952 game at Laidley Field and remembers it fondly.
"At that time in my life, it was probably the biggest thing that ever happened to me,'' Wyant said Monday. "It's something I've thought about my entire life.''
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BRIEFLY: Alexander, Easley, Wright and Wyant attended Monday's luncheon.
An induction ceremony probably will take place at halftime of the game, although nothing has been scheduled.
Next year, Dunlap is hoping for a Hall of Fame banquet at the Marriott and the presentation of blazers to new inductees. Dunlap said he also hopes to purchase plaques for each member and set off an area of Laidley Field for the Hall of Fame.
Easley, who played in the 1976 North-South Game, believes kids of his era were more active in sports than most of today's. "It's a different time,'' he said. "Kids are more into their videos and more into staying inside. We didn't have all those gadgets, and mom would put you out of the house, and you'd have to find something to do. All the kids would be out in the street playing football and basketball and running. We learned the integral parts of the game. Kids today don't know the integral parts of the game.''
North-South history is filled with fascinating historical trivia, said Dunlap. For example, he noted that Buzz Nutter, a former Huntington Vinson star, played in the North-South game and gained greater fame as center for the Baltimore Colts. Nutter played in the 1958 NFL championship game, described in a recent Sports Illustrated issue as the "the best game ever,'' in which the Colts edged Huff's Giants in overtime. Nutter died last month.
To contact staff writer Mike Whiteford, use e-mail or call 348-7948.
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