Columbus native nominated for Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame inaugural class
Columbus native Otis Sistrunk is among the first 32 nominees to be considered for the inaugural class of inductees into the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame.
Sistrunk, 75, a former Spencer High School star, helped the Oakland Raiders win the 1976 NFL championship in Super Bowl XI. He played his entire seven-year pro career with the Raiders, 98 regular-season and 12 playoff games, all as a starting defensive lineman, from 1972-78. He was selected for the 1974 Pro Bowl. He also was named to the All-AFC first team in 1974 by the Associated Press and United Press International and in 1975 by Pro Football Weekly.
“We are not saying these 32 players are the best among the nominees for the Hall of Fame,’’ I.J. Rosenberg, executive director of the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame, said in a news release. “We feel like these 32 announced tonight are a good mixture of what to expect when we finalize the nominee list. Our plan is to have the final nominee list by the second week of June.’’
The Georgia High School Hall of Fame board decided the nine members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame from Georgia automatically will be in its inaugural class: Calvin Johnson (Sandy Creek), Champ Bailey (Charlton County), Ray Guy (Thomson), Fran Tarkenton (Athens), Mel Blount (Lyons Industrial), Shannon Sharpe (Glennville), Richard Dent (Murphy), Rayfield Wright (Griffin) and Jim Parker (Ballard-Hudson), according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A selection committee will consider a total of 100 nominees for 36 additional spots in the inaugural class, with every decade from the pre-1950s to the 2000s represented. Sistrunk was nominated in the the Georgia Interscholastic Association category. The GIA was the league for teams from Black schools from 1948-70 before integration.
The induction ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 22 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Nominees
Pre-1950s
- Clint Castleberry, Boys High
- Bob McWhorter, Gordon Institute
- Vernon “Catfish” Smith, Lanier-Macon
- George Maloof, Marist
1950s
- Larry Morris, Decatur
- Bill Curry, College Park
- Pat Dye, Richmond Academy
- Stan Gann, Northside-Atlanta
1960s
- Doyle Orange, Waycross
- Andy Johnson, Athens
- Chip Kell, Avondale
- Bill Stanfill, Cairo
GIA
- Emerson Boozer, Laney
- Jack Pitts, Trinity
- Clarence Scott, Trinity
- Otis Sistrunk, Spencer
1970s
- Herschel Walker, Johnson County
- Stan Rome, Valdosta
- George Rogers, Duluth
- Lucius Samford, West Fulton
1980s
- Garrison Hearst, Lincoln County
- Charlie Ward, Central-Thomasville
- John Davis, Gilmer
- Pat Swilling, Stephens County
1990s
- Eric Zeier, Marietta
- Takeo Spikes, Washington County
- Jeff Saturday, Shamrock
- Hines Ward, Forest Park
2000s
- Monte Williams, Commerce
- Eric Berry, Creekside
- Hutson Mason, Lassiter
- Rennie Curran, Brookwood
Sistrunk was one of the few athletes to play in the NFL without going to college. He joined the U.S. Marines after high school. He was 21 when he left the Marines, then played five seasons of semi pro football before signing with the Raiders. He was inducted into the Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
After his football career, Sistrunk acted in a few movies (“Car Wash” in 1976 and “Babyface” in 1977) and became a pro wrestler, winning the 1981 NWA National Tag Team Championship with Michael Hayes.
Sistrunk worked for 12 years as a civilian contractor at Fort Benning, then 21 years at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. He retired in 2014.
Another Columbus native, DJ. Jones, also is part of this effort to establish the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame. Jones is a member of the board.
Jones was an All-American quarterback at Carver High School (1979-80). He was a backup quarterback on Georgia’s 1980 NCAA championship team and a defensive back and kick returner on three SEC championship teams (1981-83). He played cornerback in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers (1984-86) and Denver Broncos (1987-88).
Jones now is president and CEO of Diamond Sports Marketing and Entertainment. He hosts the “Sportsvisions Radio Sports Talk Show” on WLTC-FM, and he is managing partner, executive producer and host of “Sportsvisions” on BEAM cable TV.
This story was originally published June 3, 2022 at 10:33 AM.
