‘Community legend’ and Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame member Cliff Rutledge dies
Cliff Rutledge, a Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame member whose radio broadcasting career spanned seven decades in Columbus, has died.
Rutledge died Sunday in Columbus at 92, according to Taylor Funeral Home’s website. The funeral will be Feb. 26. It will start at 11 a.m. in Nichols Chapel AME Church, 215 11th Ave., Phenix City, followed by burial in Fort Mitchell National Cemetery.
His cause of death and obituary weren’t available before publication. The following information about his life comes from the CVSHOF:
Rutledge began his radio broadcasting career in the 1950s, hosting a Sunday morning gospel show on WCLS. He moved to WOKS in 1964 to start announcing sporting events. Historic games he called include:
- Carver’s 1971 state basketball championship
- Kendrick’s share of the 1991 state football championship
- Shaw’s 2000 state football championship
- Carver’s 2007 state football championship.
Rutledge also did play-by-play for two college football rivalry games played annually in Columbus: the Fountain City Classic between Albany State and Fort Valley State and the Tuskegee Morehouse Classic.
Beyond broadcasting, Rutledge served the community as an educational leader. His 40 years of working for Phenix City Schools comprised stints as principal of Susie E. Allen Elementary School and director of the city’s Head Start and adult education programs.
The Samarc Foundation honored Rutledge as one of its “Community Legends” in 2012. He was inducted into the CVSHOF in 2014.
‘A genuine cultural icon’
State Sen. Ed Harbison (D-Columbus) was impressed with Rutledge when Harbison was hired at WOKS as the radio station’s news and public affairs director in 1972.
“To put it bluntly, Cliff Rutledge was a genuine cultural icon to the weekly religious audience he broadcast to on his weekly radio show,” Harbison told the Ledger-Enquirer in an emailed interview. “One of his favorite topics was his piano-playing abilities at Nichols Chapel and pitting his Baptist audience’s alleged worthiness over that of his Methodist listeners.
“Both sides loved it and egged him on to talk about it when he was spotted in person. Each side proclaiming they were the better version of what should be done in church.”
Harbison described Rutledge’s broadcasting style as representing “the best of what personality radio was about.”
“He was passionate about the music he played and loved the people he ministered to,” Harbison said. “He knew most if not all the preachers and singing groups in the area. With his one-on-one style, he talked to them as friends and mentioned things they cared about. They trusted him.”
For 16 years, Harbison was Rutledge’s broadcasting partner for high school football games. Rutledge did the play-by-play and Harbison provided the analysis.
Harbison recalled a game Central played at Prattville in the 1980s.
“It was the coldest night of the season, and we were practically in a tree near the announcer’s booth,” Harbison said. “To add to our misery, Central and James ‘Bo Peep’ Joseph (who ended up playing for Auburn University, the Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals) had been losing the game when suddenly they started a game-winning drive.
“Then, inexplicably, the lights in the whole stadium went dark, and it stayed that way for several minutes. To add insult to injury, when the game resumed, the Red Devils had gone cold and never regained traction. On the drive back to Columbus, we swore then and every time after when we met that someone standing near the light pole pulled the switch.”
Harbison hopes Rutledge is remembered for more than his radio broadcasting career.
“He was a dedicated educator and a principal at Susie Allen in Phenix City,” Harbison said. “He also had a ready hand to help his students and others in the community.”
