Rayburn, Herring to be enshrined into Hall of Fame

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, November 8, 2017

THOMASVILLE — The atmosphere that a high school football game in South Georgia carries is like nothing else.

This week, Jim Rayburn and Elven Herring, who hold key roles in making Friday nights special at Veterans Memorial Stadium, will be honored with enshrinement into the Thomasville-Thomas County Sports Hall of Fame.

During his time as a student at Thomasville High School, Rayburn was an athlete, running track for the Bulldogs.

“When I think about Jim Rayburn, I think about the discipline required to train for a two-mile event in a time when nobody was running like they are today,” Thomasville-Thomas County Sports Hall of Fame Chairman Bill Raney said.

Rayburn is probably best known for his role in the press box every Friday night as the Bulldogs’ football color commentator alongside Darrell Allen over the WPAX airwaves. He has held that post for over 25 years. Rayburn also serves as the Bulldogs’ official football statistician, and is well-regarded as the historian for everything Thomasville athletics.

“He and Darrell are able to bring that ballgame off the field and into the home of everybody that’s listening, especially this year with all of the come-from-behind victories that we’ve had,” Raney said. “He’s done a great job of doing that year after year after year.”

Herring’s beginnings lie from his time as a student at Boston High School, where he was a two-year varsity basketball player. In 1959, at the request of Douglass High School football head coach James Bryant, Herring began holding the chains for the Lions.

After Douglass integrated with Thomasville to form a single school, he continued his job on the sidelines — and it’s a task that he continues to perform to this day.

In total, Herring has been a part of the Thomasville chain crew for 58 seasons, which adds up to nearly 300 games, excluding the playoffs. The Bulldogs honored Herring as an honorary captain before their regular season finale against Fitzgerald last week.

“That is one of those thankless jobs,” Raney said. “Nobody knows the chain crew until they make a mistake. They truly are very special, I think, and he is right there also. In the rain, in the cold, dodging the players coming out of bounds… Elven Herring is very special. If you don’t have those people, you’re in trouble. He’s right there doing his job, and has done it very, very well.”

The induction banquet for the Sports Hall of Fame will take place Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Thomasville High School cafeteria.