Bobo, McIntyre in Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame 2023 class

Jun. 11—ATLANTA — Forty new names, including many notable area players are set to be inducted later this year in the second class of the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony will take place Oct. 21 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. The first Hall of Fame class was held last year at the same location.

Inductees were selected by 38 committee members from around the state from a ballot of 100 players. Voters were required to vote for at least two players from eight eras, spanning from pre-1948 into the 2000s, also with a category for the Georgia Interscholastic Association, a league that operated from 1948-70 serving athletes at all-Black high schools during segregation.

Bruce Bennett of Valdosta High, Mike Bobo (Thomasville), Randall Godfrey (Lowndes), Ray Goff (Moultrie), Charles Grant (Miller County), Mackel Harris (Americus), Charles Johnson (Hawkinsville), Guy McIntyre (Thomasville), Al Pinkins (Mitchell-Baker), Dan Reeves (Americus) and Marcus Stroud (Brooks County) spent their playing days on fields in deep south Georgia.

Bobo, Goff and Reeves are equally known for their coaching careers.

Godfrey played from 1996-2007 in the NFL with Dallas, Tennessee, Seattle, San Diego and Washington, earning 2nd team All-Pro with the Titans in 2000. At Lowndes, he earned All-American in 1991 and was 1st team All-SEC at Georgia.

Bennett led Valdosta to consecutive 12-0 state championship seasons, a string that eventually hit 37 straight victories. He was Class 3A Back of the Year in 1961 and Senior Scholastic magazine All-American. After starring at the University of Florida, Bennett played six years in the Canadian Football League.

Goff was named two two All-American teams in 1972 at Moultrie — Parade and Coach & Athlete — before starting at quarterback at Georgia. He later followed Vince Dooley as Georgia head coach.

Bobo earned All-State twice with Thomasville, throwing for 5,167 yards and 42 touchdowns. He started for two years at Georgia and has since had a long career in coaching, currently offensive coordinator with the Bulldogs.

Another Thomasville Bulldog, McIntyre earned Coach & Athlete All-American in 1978. After a notable career at Georgia, McIntyre earned three Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers and was named Pro Bowl five times over 13 pro seasons.

Stroud earned 1st team All-State at Brooks in 1995. The year before, he helped lead the Trojans to their first ever state championship in the sport. Stroud was a 1st round NFL draft pick in 2001 and played 10 seasons. He earned Pro Bowl three times.

Mitchell-Baker struck fear in basketball and football through Georgia in the 1980s-90s, with Pinkins a major reason for that in both sports. He was the first quarterback in the state to eclipse 3,000 yards, and also set records (since broken) for total passing yards and passing touchdowns.

The two Americus players, Reeves and Harris, played in different eras. Reeves, a star with the Cowboys, went to the Super Bowl several times as a player and coach. He was the first coach to lead the Atlanta Falcons to a championship game. Harris was the top defensive player for Americus for its state championship teams of 1974 and 1975. The latter squad outscored opponents 400-8, shutting out 13 of 14 opponents.

Johnson was Class A's Defensive Player of the Year in 2003, and the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association South Class A Player of the Year after Hawkinsville won the state title. He played 11 years with the Carolina Panthers. Grant scored 101 touchdowns in three years with the Pirates. He won Player of the Year awards as both a running back and defensive lineman. He played on the New Orleans' Saints 2009 Super Bowl championship team.

The full list of inductees, and their high schools are: Julius Adams (Ballard-Hudson), Jeff Backus (Norcross), Bennett (Valdosta), Bobo (Thomasville), Reggie Brown (Carrollton), Ronnie Brown (Cartersville), Quincy Carter (Southwest DeKalb), Rennie Current (Brookwood), John Davis (Gilmer), Ray Donaldson (East Rome), Anthony Flanagan (Southwest of Atlanta), Godfrey (Lowndes), Goff (Moultrie), Charles Grant (Miller County), Deon Grant (T.W. Josey), Ernie Green (Spencer), Harris (Americus), Bill Hartman (Georgia Military College Prep), Billy Henderson (Lanier of Macon), Keith Henderson (Cartersville), Johnson (Hawkinsville), Jarvis Jones (Carver of Columbus), Eddie Lee Ivery (Thomson), Jamal Lewis (Douglass), Billy Lothridge (Gainesville), McIntyre (Thomasville), Adam Meadows (McEachern), Pinkins (Mitchell-Baker), Reeves (Americus), Pepper Rodgers (Brown), Buzy Rosenberg (Northside of Atlanta), Lucius Stanford (West Fulton), Jeff Saturday (Shamrock), D.J. Shockley (North Clayton), Catfish Smith (Lanier of Macon), Jon Stinchcomb (Parkview), Stroud (Brooks County), Ken Swilling (Stephens County), Pat Swilling (Stephens County) and Scott Woerner (Jonesboro).

The 2022 class consisted of 36 players, plus nine automatic entries who had been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

"This was a very different ballot from the inaugural one," said Hall of Fame executive director I.J. Rosenberg in a press release. "Last year Herschel Walker was on every ballot (35 voters) and four others made it on 30 (85.7%) of the ballots. This year the top vote-getters (Reeves and Stinchcomb) were on 31 of the 38 ballots (81.6%). If this was the Baseball Hall of Fame where you have to get 75 percent of the votes, only three players would have made it this year. That tells you something about how spread out the talent is and has been for many years in the state of Georgia."

Note: Tifton Gazette sports editor Becky Taylor is a Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame committee member.