Former Washington County High School football star, Takeo Spikes, will be a member of the 2024 class inducted into the National Federation of State High School Associations National High School Hall of Fame for his illustrious football career.
Spikes was a part of the football team at Washington County for all four years of high school. In his time with the Golden Hawks, Spikes played on both sides of the ball, causing mayhem for the opposition. While he is widely known as a hard-hitting linebacker, Spikes caught 40 passes for close to 800 yards receiving including 22 touchdowns while playing tight end in high school. On the defensive side of the ball in his natural position, Spikes accumulated close to 240 tackles and three interceptions.
With Spikes, the Golden Hawks won three straight region titles from 1992-1994, switching from Class 2A’s Region 6 to Region 4 during that time.
In 1994, Spikes’ final season as a Golden Hawk, the linebacker helped lead Washington County to their first ever state championship where the team went a perfect 15-0, running through their competition. Spikes led the Washington County defense which only allowed 91 points throughout the entire 15-game schedule.
During their undefeated season, Spikes and Washington County shut out their opponents in five different games, and didn’t let up more than 14 points in one game. While the defense did its part, the offense was explosive, scoring 630 points on their way to a Class 2A state championship.
For his impressive efforts in his final season, he was named Player of the Year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was named as 1994 Region Player of the Year.
While also playing football, Spikes was a four year letterman on the track and field team and participated in multiple events according to the press release from the NFHS.
After considering between the University of Georgia and Auburn to continue his athletic career, the linebacker left the state and decided to attend Auburn where he was a member of the football program for three seasons.
During his time on the plains, Spikes saw action in 25 games, totaled 268 tackles, including 13 tackles for loss, four interceptions and two forced fumbles. He increased his stats each year, outperforming his previous year, year after year. Spikes became a two-time First Team All-SEC and a First Team All-American in 1997 as he helped lead the Tigers to an SEC Championship Game appearance against Tennessee where they were defeated by the Volunteers and Peyton Manning, 30-29.
The Sandersville, GA-native left Auburn after three seasons in the football program and declared for the 1998 NFL Draft. The Auburn linebacker was drafted 13th overall by the Cincinnati Bengals and remained with the organization for five seasons. In his 15-year NFL career, Spikes played for a number of teams including the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and the San Diego Chargers.
Spikes is already an inductee in the Alabama and Georgia Sports Hall of Fames, as he was a member of the Class of 2017 in Alabama and the Class of 2019 in the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. In 2022, he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame, where he accepted his Hall of Fame jacket on a broadcast on the SEC Network.
Spikes is joining Joe Mauer, Tyrone Wheatley, Dot Ford Burrow, Paula Kirkland, Gary Rankin, Roy Snyder, Ronald Vincent, David Gore, Mike Colbrese and Marie Ishida as members of the Class of this year’s NFHS National High School Hall of Fame.
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