The Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame’s 30-member Class of 2024 represents the third group of inductees since the hall’s inaugural 2022 Class and welcomes in an exceptional collection of trailblazers, state champions and homegrown heroes that spans across the decades and throughout Georgia’s gridiron landscape. Board members of the Hall of Fame began submitting nominees for the Hall’s third class in early spring and then held committee votes before the final ballot was narrowed down to the finalists in mid-March. Once the ballot was set, each board member was required to vote for 30 players that spanned across these eras (pre-1948, 1948-59, 1960’s, GIA, 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s, 2000’s). The top two from each era and a minimum of seven linemen were guaranteed spots, but neither requirement factored in and the top 30 vote-getters ultimately formed the class. The board’s ballots were all submitted by Monday, May 20, but a three-way tie for the final spot forced a runoff and the 30-player class became official Tuesday evening.
The Induction Ceremony will begin at 6:45 p.m. this Saturday at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Peachtree Sports Network starting at 6:30 p.m., and will also stream live on the Atlanta News First app. From home, download the free ANF+ app anywhere you stream — FireTV, AppleTV, Roku and YouTubeTV — simply by searching for “Atlanta News First” on those platforms. If you are on the go, you can download Atlanta News First for free in the app store on your Apple or Android device. You can also watch live here on the WANF – Special Events channel.
TIME TO SHINE
There were 10 first-time nominees that were voted into the 2024 class, 14 individuals that have appeared on all three ballots and six guys that debuted last year that were successful in their second attempt. Additionally, 22 of the 30 inductees are the first players from their respective schools to enter the hall. The first-time nominees that were successfully voted in were Frank Broyles (Decatur, 1941), Alfred Jenkins (Hogansville, 1968), Homer Jordan (Cedar Shoals, 1978), Jessie Tuggle (Griffin, 1982), David Rocker (Fulton, 1986), David Greene (South Gwinnett, 1999), George Atkinson (Johnson-Savannah, 1963) and a trio of players that graduated in the 2000’s with Alec Ogletree (Newnan, 2009), Demaryius Thomas (West Laurens, 2005) and Thomas Davis (Randolph-Clay, 2000). Tuggle and Jenkins are both long-time Atlanta Falcon greats that played their entire professional careers with the franchise.
The six inductees that were voted in this year after debuting on last year’s ballot are Lauren Hargrove (Fitzgerald, 1948), Jeff Bower (Roswell, 1970), Terry Harvey (Dacula, 1990), Leonard Pope (Americus, 2001), Tommy Hart (Ballard-Hudson, 1963) and Silas Jamison (Washington, 1959). Finally, the inductees that have the distinction of appearing on all three ballots and successfully joining the hall this year are Everett Strupper (Riverside Military, 1913), Len Hauss (Wayne County, 1959), Edgar Chandler (Cedartown, 1963), Andy Spiva (Chamblee, 1972), Ben Zambiasi (Mount de Sales, 1973), Kent Hill (Americus, 1974), Jerry Mays (Thomson, 1984), Robert Lavette (Cartersville, 1980), Bill Mayo (Dalton, 1980), Joe Burns (Thomas County Central, 1997), Hutson Mason (Lassiter, 2009), Tray Blackmon (LaGrange, 2004), Jonathan Dwyer (Kell, 2006) and Jack Pitts (Trinity, 1965).
STATE PROWESS
UGA led all colleges with 10 former Bulldogs represented and Georgia Tech accounted for seven. For Georgia, Mason, Ogletree, Pope, Greene and Davis are five products of the Mark Richt-era that got in—joining previous Bulldogs from that era like Rennie Curran and DJ Shockley. Pope joins 1974 Americus alum Kent Hill as the only pair of inductees from the same high school this year and the two hall of famers graduated 27 years apart.
Georgia Tech’s group includes Dwyer and Thomas, who were both teammates under Paul Johnson on the Yellow Jackets’ 2009 ACC Championship Team. The other Yellow Jackets include Lavette, Burns, May, Broyles and Strupper. A total of three College Football Hall of Famers are represented in this year’s class—including Strupper—who became the first former Georgia high school player to become a consensus All-American while starring at halfback for Tech’s 1917 national championship team. Broyles is a Hall of Famer for his athletic career and is also a College Football Hall of Fame coach who won seven SWC championships and a 1964 national title at Arkansas. Dacula’s Harvey became a football and baseball star at NC State after his varsity career—setting a school record in passing as a three-year starting quarterback and becoming an NC State baseball Hall of Famer in 2012 as a pitching ace with a school-record 35 wins on the mound.
Mason led Lassiter to its first-ever playoff berth and became the first quarterback in state history to pass for more than 4,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a season. He joins other trailblazers in this year’s class—such as Hargrove—who accounted for more than 60 touchdowns and 421 total points in his varsity days during a time when teams not only played fewer games per season, but also were significantly lower scoring.
There are 12 players that won football state championships, including Bower—who won five total state titles while at Roswell—two in football, two in baseball and one in basketball. Mason, Burns and LaGrange’s Tray Blackmon are the three inductees that were All-Classification Players of the Year during their varsity careers.
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