The Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame’s inaugural class was full of familiar names. There were four NFL Hall-of-Famers, an NBA Hall-of-Famer, and the four late “legends” that made Grambling into what it is today — football coach Eddie Robinson, basketball coach Fred Hobdy, school president Ralph W.E. Jones, and sports information Director Collie J. Nicholson.
James “Shack” Harris, who founded the hall along with fellow former GSU quarterback Doug Williams and a host of other GSU greats, said a focus for choosing the second class of inductees was to include some “contributors” — those who didn’t necessarily have a major impact as a player or coach at Grambling, but were nonetheless influential.
The hall’s second class will be inducted in a ceremony at the Monroe Civic Center at 6 p.m. on July 17.
“We wanted to make sure we had some contributors who were pre-1960,” said Harris, who played at Grambling from 1965-68 before moving on to an NFL career that included a Pro Bowl selection with the Los Angeles Rams. He is currently a senior personnel executive for the Detroit Lions.
“This year we had a committee headed up by Howard Davis, and we took nominations, and selected the names base on research,” he said. “It was a tough chore to do.”
There are 15 inductees in the 2010 class including contributors like Eugene “Doc” Harvey, who served as a trainer and physical therapist for the Tigers for 32 years, and Adolph Byrd, who played on the Grambling football team in the 1940s, then became a crucial talent scout.
Also included in the class is Williams, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist during his GSU career, and then moved on to NFL, where he became the first African-American quarterback to start a Super Bowl.
READ THE REST: Grambling Legends had different focus for second class of inductees
Story by Ethan Conley, The News-Star
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