TIFTON — Twelve individuals and teams were permanently enshrined in Tift County athletic history Aug. 25 at the annual Tift Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the high school.

Honored were Bobby Simpson, Bobby Anderson, Stanley Brownlee, Joseph “Pogo” Carter, Tye Cottle, Larry Dean, Landy Ewings, Luther Jefferson, Michael Turner, Andy Ellis (for Meritorious Service), the 1997 football team and the 2004 boys basketball team.

Saturday’s induction was the fifth in the history of the hall of fame, the first class having been selected in 2014.

Chris Beckham was the ceremony’s emcee and gave a summary of each inductee’s achievements before the plaque presentments. Simpson said a prayer before the meal.

Simpson coached several sports at TCHS and head coached baseball. He went on to work for Florida State and became a Major League Baseball scout. Back in Tifton, he worked with the Tift County Recreation Department and later internationally with national teams from the Netherlands, Greece and the United Kingdom. He has also conducted more than 600 softball clinics since 1983.

Simpson spoke of starting his athletic career in the recreation department, led by E.B. Hamilton. In high school as a student and young coach, his influences were Bud Smith, Kermit Perry, Tommy Guillebeau and Ray Broadaway. Simpson was also heavily influenced by his mother, whom he said was “a driving force” in his life.

Simpson thanked his wife, Bonnie. Tearing up, he said “My wife is the wind beneath my wings. She is my wings.” He told stories of his children and grandchildren and the wisdom each offered him. 

Anderson was a multi-sport athlete at Wilson and Tift County High. His senior year with the Blue Devils, Anderson starred as both an offensive and defensive lineman, winning All-State honors. Florida State signed him to a scholarship in the sport and Anderson became one of the first individuals to integrate varsity football. 

“I give God glory,” said Anderson. He recognized the Blue Devils coaches

See HALL OF FAME, page 2B

who helped him, including Guillebeau and Ray Dalton, with a special mention to offensive line coach Thomas Fiveash.

“He made all the difference,” said Anderson of Fiveash. Anderson additionally thanked many of his Tift County teammates.

Brownlee is one of multiple siblings who starred for Tift County on the basketball courts. He started for the Blue Devils as a junior and senior and helped lead the squad to a 28-1 state runner-up finish in 2004. After All-Region Player of the Year and All-State honors, Brownlee played collegiately at Jones Community College (Miss.), Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and at Crichton College in Tennessee. He also played overseas.

Former Tift County High basketball coach Tommy Blackshear presented the plaque to Brownlee.

The oldest of four siblings, Brownlee said he started playing at the recreation department. He learned then about being competitive. At every level, from rec to AAU to high school and college, he said he “wanted to be the best player” on every team.

Brownlee discussed growing up. He was initially a center because of his height, but coaches realized he could shoot and bring the ball up the floor. He transitioned from the ninth grade team to playing a few minutes in varsity games in 10th. It was at that age he had to make a decision.

Carter, a fan favorite basketball player with the Blue Devils, scored 1,063 points in three seasons, including a 44-point game his senior year in 1973. He played for ABAC and Valdosta State while in college.

Carter’s niece, Tracie Carter-Turner, said she accepted the award on behalf of the family. “I got to see him play quite often,” she said. Her initial front row seats were in their hometown of Ty Ty where she witnessed outdoor basketball games involving family. She said she later wondered if he ever missed a shot.

“When he was hot, he was too hot to stop,” said Carter-Turner.

She and family members attended games at Tift County, ABAC and Valdosta State. Carter’s abilities on the court rubbed off on his family. He wore jersey No. 32, one that became a family tradition.

“I was hoping that wearing his number would magically make me shoot those jumpers like he did,” she said.

Quarterback Cottle earned All-State from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution at his position in 1986 before moving on to Valdosta State, where he started for four years and led the Gulf South Conference in passing as a senior. He also excelled in golf, winning low medalist at the 1987 Georgia High School Association state tournament.

“I’m humbled, I’m honored” to be here, said Cottle. He said he was glad his family could be here to attend the ceremony.

Cottle said it was his privilege to play football and in reference to Tift County, “I bleed blue like a lot of you do.”

When notified of his induction, Cottle said he immediately thought about everyone who made it possible. He thanked coaches and teammates, with a special mention to the “best receiver Tift County’s ever had,” Teals. The two played together at TCHS and at Valdosta State.

Cottle thanked the coaches for working with him. “They took time away from their families to make me better,” he said.

Dean was unique in the Hall of Fame class as being the only athlete still competing professionally. He currently plays for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League and previously played in the National Football League with Minnesota and Buffalo. After racking up awards at Tift County in high school, Dean played for Valdosta State and was named Division II Defensive Player of the Year by Daktronics in 2010.

Teals presented the plaque to Dean.

Dean said he was “humbled to be in the presence of you guys.” He talked about his childhood, initially growing up in New York and playing Mighty Mite football there. Dean said there were times the family lived in poverty.

“We had our hardships,” he said.

When Dean initially played football as a youth, his position was center.

“I think because my ability to communicate,” he said.

He also paid tribute to assistant coach Russ Davis for teaching him how to play safety.

Dean said he was warned he would face adversity in life, and in 10th grade, he broke his ankle. Feeling down with the injury, he did not do well in classes and for a time was ineligible to play. He named his father, Larry Dean Sr., as “My best friend, my biggest critic, my inspiration.”

Ewings was a rare breed in sports. He lettered in five sports in high school: football, track, baseball, basketball and wrestling. Named the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Lineman of the Year in 1979, Ewings was one of the top football prospects in the nation and ultimately signed with the University of Georgia. At UGA, he was a member of the 1980 national championship team.

Former Tift assistant and head football coach Tommy Seward presented the award to Ewings.

After thanking the committee for the honor, Ewings praised Brodie and his assistants who arrived in Tifton in 1976, when Ewings was in junior high. “That group of men that came in set the tone,” he said.

Ewings grew up in Eldorado to family whose background was sharecropping. One of seven kids, he said the family did not have much and lived off the land. His mother taught him to read and write and his father was always available to play baseball with the children.

“Thank you mama, thank you dad,” said Ewings. “I’m blessed.”

Athletics were Ewings’ stage, but he has dedicated his life to helping others. Ewings enjoys working with youth. He officiated high school sports for 26 years and still works with softball and trains young officials.

“I have Tift County in my heart,” he said.

Jefferson was the only athlete honored to have never played at Tift County. He instead competed at Tifton’s Wilson High, where he was key member on the basketball team for the Tigers. Jefferson started and starred at both ABAC and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte before playing many years in the Army.

Jefferson was battling illness at the time he learned of his induction and died in Atlanta on July 29. His widow, Camille, accepted the Hall of Fame plaque from Mims.

Turner excelled in baseball and football at Tift, earning a scholarship in the former sport to Middle Georgia College and ultimately to the University of Georgia. Turner hit .353 for the Bulldogs as a junior and helped lead the team to a 42-21 record.

Turner was unable to attend Saturday’s ceremony and his sister, Cynthia, accepted his award.

Cynthia Turner read a statement from Michael thanking the committee for selecting him. She also thanked Tift County for its 24-10 football victory over Valdosta Friday.

Ellis, who was honored with the Meritorious Service Award, was Tift’s athletic trainer and physical therapist for many years and in addition, served as president of the Booster Club. Beckham asked coaches Blackshear, Seward and Emmett Bowers to present the award to Ellis.

“I’m blessed,” said Ellis.

Luck and passion, he said, were why he was here.

“I’m always at the right place at the right time.”

He thanked his wife, Pam, for “putting up with me for 37 years.”

The final honorees of the evening were teams: the 1997 state runner-up football team and the 2004 state runner-up basketball team.

Beckham presented the football team award to Bowers. Winslette, the squad’s head coach, spoke for the team after players’ names were called out.

Winslette, who said he has been a coach for 44 years and a head coach for 34 (he is currently a position coach in Eatonton), said the 1997 Tift County football squad was “probably my favorite team.” He said the mentality of the players was “team first.”

That Tift team was known for the passing of Worth Bowers, who was ultimately named the Offensive Player of the year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Player of the Year by the Associated Press.

The final honorees were the 2004 Blue Devils, with their head coach, Robert Moore, giving the speech.

Moore, who took over that season for the legendary Blackshear, thanked his predecessor. Blackshear “set the foundation,” said Moore.

In 2003-04, the Devils finished 28-1, going into the finals with a 28-game win streak. Led by Brownlee, Dwight Tolbert, Lynn Bryant, Michael Phillips, Thomas Hightower and others, Moore said the entire team was “so unselfish.”

“They gave up everything for each other,” he said.

Moore said the scene was set during the summer. Tift County was 17-0 in summer games until facing Randolph-Clay.

“These guys did not want to feel losing again,” he said.

Tift met up with South Gwinnett and current NBA player Louis Williams in the finals, Williams scoring 39 to defeat the Blue Devils for the title.

Note: A longer story, with more details and photos is planned for the September/October 2018 Tifton Scene magazine.