1990s
2023 INDUCTEES
Jeff Backus
Norcross High School Graduate
Jeff Backus was a standout in football and baseball for Norcross High He. dominated with his 6-foot-5 frame and started on the offensive and defensive lines. He earned first-team All-Gwinnett County as a junior and recorded 74 tackles and five sacks. As a senior, he garnered 1995 USA Today All-America honors and was an AJC first-team All-State player and the Gwinnett County Touchdown Club’s Lineman of the Year. Backus redshirted at Michigan and made All-Big Ten all four active seasons with the Wolverines. He started 49 consecutive games at left tackle, including during the school’s 12-0 season in 1997 that crowned Michigan national champions. The Detroit Lions selected Backus with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. Backus set a franchise record with 186 consecutive starts at left tackle. He spent his entire 12-year career starting for the Lions and missed just one game with a hamstring injury. “I think it was driven into my head early on in my career at Michigan – to be dependable, to be consistent, to be a team player,” Backus once said. “You make sacrifices for your teammates. It's about the team. Those are basic principles.” Backus has worked in retirement in real estate.
Mike Bobo
Thomasville High School Graduate
Mike Bobo, best known today as the University of Georgia’s offensive coordinator, was the USA Today Georgia player of the year and AJC co-player of the year in 1992, when he passed for 2,477 yards and 23 touchdowns at Thomasville High while playing under head coach George Bobo, his father. For his high school career, Mike Bobo was 329-of-590 passing for 5,167 yards and 42 touchdowns. He led Thomasville to consecutive region championships and 10-3 quarterfinal appearances in Class AAA. “If you could pick the perfect high school quarterback, it would be Mike Bobo,” Colquitt County coach Jim Hughes once said. “Like having a coach on the field. ... Maximizes his talent.” Bobo went on to play at Georgia. From 1994 to 1997, Bobo passed for 6,334 yards, the seventh-most in program history. In his final game, he was MVP of the Outback Bowl and set Outback records for consecutive completions (19) and completion percentage (92.8%) as he was good on 26 of 28 attempts in Georgia’s 33-7 victory over Wisconsin. Bobo began his coaching career as a Georgia graduate assistant in 1999. He was Georgia’s quarterbacks coach in 2001-06 and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2007. Bobo was Colorado State’s head coach from 2015 to 2019. He became Georgia’s offensive coordinator again in 2023 under coach Kirby Smart, his former Georgia teammate.
Reggie Brown
Carrollton High School Graduate
Reggie Brown was a multi-sport athlete at Carrollton High and was the AJC’s all-classification state l player of the year, Georgia’s consensus No. 1 recruit and a USA Today and Parade All-American in football as a senior. In 1998, he was a two-way starter on Carrollton's first state championship team in 24 years and caught 62 passes for 1,046 yards while also playing in the defensive secondary. In the title game, a 37-18 victory over Early County, Brown had seven receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Carrollton was 50-6 during Brown’s four seasons of varsity football. Brown was also a part of three consecutive region championship teams in basketball. In track and field, he set a state record in the long jump as a sophomore, jumping 24 feet, 9 inches. Brown continued his football career at Georgia, where he caught 144 passes for 2,008 yards and 12 touchdowns. Georgia was 50-14 during Brown’s four seasons, including a 13-1 mark in 2002, when the Bulldogs won an SEC title and the Sugar Bowl. The Philadelphia Eagles selected Brown with the 35th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Brown led NFL rookies with 571 receiving yards. During his tenure with the Eagles, Brown caught 177 passes for 2,574 yards and 17 touchdowns. After his playing career, Brown transitioned to coaching. He is currently a wide receivers coach for the Cambridge Bears.
Ronnie Brown
Cartersville High School Graduate
Ronnie Brown would become the No. 2 overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft and a 10-year NFL veteran. Years before, he was a standout running back at Cartersville High, which he led to the 1999 Class AA title. During that championship season, Brown rushed for 1,931 yards and 25 touchdowns with 343 receiving yards and three touchdowns while snagging three interceptions on defense. In the 27-21 victory over Hart County in the AA final, Brown rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. The Georgia Sports Writers named Brown their Class AA Player of the Year. Brown went to Auburn, where he would rush for 2,707 career yards, which ranks seventh in school history. Brown rushed for 913 yards on Auburn’s 2004 13-0 SEC championship team that also featured running back Cadillac Williams. Their 2,078 yards together made them college football’s top backfield duo. Both went in the top five of the 2005 NFL Draft – Brown at No. 2 and Williams at No. 5. Brown played 10 NFL seasons with the Dolphins, Eagles, Chargers and Texans. He rushed for 5,391 yards and 38 touchdowns for his career and added 1,966 receiving yards. He made the Pro Bowl in 2008.
Quincy Carter
Southwest DeKalb High School Graduate
Born in Chicago, Carter was raised in Decatur and starred in baseball and football at Southwest DeKalb and led the Panthers to the 1995 Class 4A championship under coach Buck Godfrey. Carter finished his high school career with 4,450 passing yards, 37 passing touchdowns, 1,489 rushing yards and 32 rushing touchdowns. He was the AJC and AP all-classification player of the year and a Parade All-American for the 1995 season. Carter signed originally with Georgia Tech but was taken in the second round of the MLB Draft and played in the minor leagues for two seasons. Carter enrolled at Georgia in 1998 and became the Bulldogs’ starter for the opener that season and for a memorable upset at No. 6 LSU in his fourth game. In his Georgia career, Carter passed for 6,447 yards, second in school history at that time behind Eric Zeier. Carter was a second-round NFL Draft pick and played four NFL seasons and started 34 games. Carter is now a private quarterbacks coach locally. This year, he joined Southwest DeKalb’s staff as a community coach.
Randall Godfrey
Lowndes High School Graduate
Randall Godfrey was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball, and track) at Lowndes. In football, he started his first varsity snaps at safety as a freshman before moving to linebacker his sophomore season. In his senior season, he finished with 111 tackles, six sacks and two interceptions. He was an AJC Super 11 pick, a USA Today All-American and one of the top 10 recruits nationally. Godfrey went on to Georgia and became the first true freshman in school history to lead the team in tackles (114) and was named SEC Defensive Freshman of the Year. He made all-SEC teams in 1993 and 1994. The Dallas Cowboys selected Godfrey in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft. He played 12 NFL seasons with the Cowboys, Titans, Seahawks, Chargers and Redskins and was second-team All-Pro in 2000. Godfrey, now an Atlanta resident, has established foundations in his name that support youth recreational centers and domestic abuse survivors. His son R.J. is a basketball player at Clemson, and his son Grant is a linebacker at Kentucky.
Charles Grant
Miller County High School Graduate
Charles Grant was a two-way player at Miller County and was best known as the running back who tied Herschel Walker’s state-record 45 rushing touchdowns in 1997. Grant scored 101 touchdowns over a three-year career in which Miller County was 29-7. Grant rushed for 2,530 yards and had 102 tackles as a senior for a 12-1 team that averaged 49.5 points per game. Grant was the 1997 GSWA Class A Player of the Year and AJC Class A Offensive Player of the Year. As a junior in 1996, he was the AJC Class A Defensive Player of the Year and the GSWA Class A Player of the Year. After a year at Hargrave Military, Grant moved on to Georgia, where he started across three seasons as a linebacker/defensive end. As a freshman, he recorded 33 tackles and seven sacks while also rushing for 79 yards and three touchdowns at fullback. He ended his college career with 136 tackles, 27 tackles for losses and 15 sacks. The New Orleans Saints took Grant with the 25th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Miller played eight NFL seasons with the Saints as a defensive end. He started 106 of 118 games and recorded 47 career sacks and 66 tackles for losses. In his final NFL season, Grant was a member of the Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV champion for the 2009 season.
Deon Grant
Josey High School Graduate
Deon Grant was the first Georgia football player to win a high school state title (with Josey in 1995), a college national title (with Tennessee in 1998) and a Super Bowl (with the New York Giants in 2011). As a high school junior, Grant was a defensive back/tight end on Josey’s 15-0 championship team and was named the AJC’s Class AAA Defensive Player of the Year. He intercepted eight passes, had more than 100 tackles and caught 14 touchdown passes. As a senior, he had six interceptions and five forced fumbles and made AJC first-team all-state for the second straight year and was named a USA Today All-American. Rated The Sporting News’ No. 9 recruit nationally, Grant signed with Tennessee and was a starting safety as a sophomore on the Volunteers’ 13-0 national champions. As a junior, he was a consensus All-American. The Carolina Panthers drafted Grant in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played 11 NFL seasons and 176 games with 161 starts playing with the Panthers, Jaguars, Seahawks and Giants. Grant was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2022. In retirement, Grant has been a captain for The Trust, an NFLPA organization that helps support retired NFL players. His Deon Grant Foundation has given to less fortunate youth in his hometown of Augusta and other cities.
Jamal Lewis
Douglass High School Graduate
Jamal Lewis helped put Douglass football back on the state map while rushing for a school-record 4,879 yards and 68 touchdowns in his career. He rushed for 1,924 yards as a junior in 1995 and 1,713 as a senior in 1996. His junior team won a region title and reached the quarterfinals in the highest class, the Astros’ best finish in 17 years. They defeated eventual champion Southwest DeKalb in the regular season. Lewis was the MVP of the Florida-Georgia All-Star Game as he rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Lewis went on to play at Tennessee, where he rushed for 1,364 yards as a freshman. He finished his college career with 2,677 rushing yards, which still ranks fifth in school history despite playing only three seasons, one cut in half by a knee injury. The Baltimore Ravens selected Lewis as the fifth overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. In his rookie season, he rushed for 1,364 yards and played a pivotal role in the Ravens' Super Bowl XXXV victory as he rushed for 102 yards in the 34-7 win. In 2003, Lewis etched his name in NFL history by becoming the fifth player to rush for more than 2,000 yards (2,066) in a single season. That remains the third-highest total in league history. In 2007, he set the NFL single-game rushing record, since broken, of 296 yards. Lewis retired after the 2009 season with 10,507 career rushing yards, the most for a former Georgia high school player in history.
Adam Meadows
McEachern High School Graduate
Adam Meadows was a four-year starter at McEachern and led the Indians to three region championships, one state semifinal appearance and a 42-8 record in Georgia’s highest classification. He made first-team all-state as a senior tight end in 1991. In his junior season, he had 16 receptions for 378 yards and seven touchdowns but was primarily used as a blocker in a powerful wing-T offense at 6 feet, 5 inches and 290 pounds. He was an AJC preseason Super 11 pick and the state’s No. 4 recruit. Meadows signed with Georgia and became a four-year starting tackle with the Bulldogs after a redshirt season. Meadows was named All-SEC first team in 1996. The Indianapolis Colts selected Meadows with the No. 48 overall pick in the 1997 NFL Draft. Meadows played eight NFL seasons, mostly with the Colts, starting 99 games. He was starter on offensive lines that won two division titles and produced 1,000-yard rushers Marshall Faulk and Edgerrin James. He was the first former McEachern player to appear in the NFL. Meadows has worked in business after football and served as a volunteer assistant high school coach.
Al Pinkins
Mitchell-Baker High School Graduate
Al Pinkins, a legendary multi-sport athlete at Mitchell-Baker, became the first Georgia high school player to pass for more than 3,000 yards (3,090) in a season in 1989, when he led the Eagles to the Class AA title as a junior. He was named first-team AJC all-state in 1989 and 1990 and was a preseason AJC Super 11 pick in 1990. Pinkins, who stood 6 feet, 6 inches, finished with a state-record 6,626 career passing yards along with 66 passing touchdowns. Mitchell-Baker was 24-2 over Pinkins’ final two seasons. Pinkins also was an outstanding baseball pitcher, but he first found high school stardom in basketball as a four-year starter who led Mitchell-Baker to state titles in his junior and senior seasons. Pinkins scored 30 points with six 3-pointers and 10 rebounds in the 1991 Class AA championship game. He chose basketball for college and his career. He averaged 17.5 points and eight rebounds in two seasons at Chipola Junior College, then finished his career at N.C. State. Pinkins played professional basketball in Spain and China. Pinkins became a college basketball coach in 2003. He has been on staffs at Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. He was Florida’s interim head coach during the 2022 NIT. Pinkins is currently an assistant coach in his second stint at Ole Miss.
Jeff Saturday
Shamrock High School Graduate
Jeff Saturday was a three-year starter who made first-team AJC all-state his senior season of 1992 at Shamrock High in DeKalb County. He went on to play center at North Carolina, where he was a three-year starter and two-time All-ACC pick (1996, 1997) and played in four bowl games. Saturday was an undrafted free agent who joined the Indianapolis Colts a year out of UNC, then played 13 NFL seasons, making 202 starts. He was a six-time Pro Bowl pick and two-time All-Pro choice (2005, 2007). Saturday was the starting center on the Colts' Super Bowl championship team during the 2006 season. He made the Colts Ring of Honor in 2015 and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. Saturday was the head coach of Hebron Christian from 2017 to 2020. He is a former ESPN analyst who was interim coach for the Colts over the final eight games of the 2022 season.
Jon Stinchcomb
Parkview High School Graduate
Jon Stinchcomb was a 1997 Parade and USA Today All-American, an AJC Super 11 pick and the Atlanta Touchdown Club’s Lineman of the Year during Parkview’s Class 4A championship season. He was a four-year starter and the Gwinnett County TD Club’s offensive lineman of the year as a sophomore, junior and senior. Then he was a four-year starter at Georgia and a two-time All-SEC selection. He also helped pave the way for the Bulldogs’ offense in 2002 that led the SEC in scoring (32.6 points per game) and won the SEC championship. Off the field, he was a three-time Academic All-American and a four-time Academic All-SEC selection. The Saints selected Stinchcomb in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He took over the starting right tackle position in 2006 and started 86 consecutive games. Stinchcomb was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2009 and won a Super Bowl the same season. He retired in 2011. Today, he is the chairman of the board for the Next Generation organization, which promotes the development of character-building and chaplaincy programs in local schools.
Marcus Stroud
Brooks County High School Graduate
Marcus Stroud was a standout defensive lineman on Brooks County’s 1994 Class A championship team as a junior and became an AJC Super 11 pick entering his senior year. As a junior, he registered 75 tackles and 13 sacks and followed that with 76 tackles and eight sacks as a senior. He made all-state teams both seasons. At 6 feet, 6 inches and 266 pounds, Stroud was a blue-chip prospect and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated ahead of 1996 National Signing Day. The covered showed Stroud ripping off a University of Florida shirt to reveal a Georgia shirt underneath, making him a bit of a Bulldogs legend. In Athens, Stroud was a three-year starter who helped the program rebuild under coach Jim Donnan. He was an All-SEC defensive tackle in 2000. Stroud entered the NFL Draft in 2001, and the Jacksonville Jaguars took him with the No. 13 overall pick in the first round. Playing defensive tackle at 300 pounds, Stroud played 10 NFL seasons, nine as a starter. He played seven seasons with the Jaguars and three with the Buffalo Bills. He finished with 62 tackles for losses and 29.5 sacks in his career. Stroud made three Pro Bowl teams and three first-team All Pro teams.
PREVIOUS INDUCTEES
Terrence Edwards
Washington County High School Graduate
Terrence Edwards, who set the SEC record for receiving yards while at Georgia and played nine CFL seasons, was a star quarterback and defensive back in high school at Washington County, a Class 2A school that he led to consecutive 15-0 finishes and state titles in 1996 and 1997. In 1997, Edwards was the Gatorade Georgia all-classification player of the year, the AJC Class 2A co-defensive player of the year and the GSWA Class 2A player of the year. In 1996, he directed the biggest comeback in GHSA championship history in a 22-21 victory over Americus after his team trailed 21-0 late in the third quarter. At Georgia, Edwards’ 3,093 yards receiving set the SEC standard and remains fourth all-time. Edwards played one season in the NFL before going to Canada, where he was a three-time CFL All-Star with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Edwards had 7,637 receiving yards and 47 touchdowns in his CFL career. Edwards retired in 2013 and went into private coaching. He currently is Milton’s passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach.
Takeo Spikes
Washington County High School Graduate
Takeo Spikes was the AJC and GSWA all-classification football player of the year in 1994. He was credited with 191 tackles, 33 tackles for losses, 21 sacks, two blocked punts and three interceptions. As a tight end, he caught 40 passes for 751 yards and 22 touchdowns and had 31 pancake blocks. He led Washington County to a 15-0 season and Class 2A championship and was named a USA Today All-American. In 2007, the AJC ranked Spikes as the No. 7 Georgia high school football player of all time. Spikes was selected as the No. 13 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft out of Auburn and played 15 NFL seasons for five teams and earned two Pro Bowl nods and one All-Pro first-team selection. He is one of just seven linebackers to start 200 games in the NFL.
Matt Stinchcomb
Parkview High School Graduate
Matt Stinchcomb, an All-America player at Georgia and first-round NFL Draft pick, was a four-year starter in high school and was named the 1994 Gatorade Georgia Player of the Year, a rare accomplishment for an offensive lineman. Stinchcomb’s senior Parkview team was the first in school history to win a playoff game. At the University of Georgia, he continued to excel, making All-American teams in 1997 and 1998. As a senior, he won the Jacobs Trophy as the SEC’s best blocker. He also won the William V. Campbell Trophy, a national award recognizing the “best combination of academics, community service and on-field performance.” The Oakland Raiders selected Stinchcomb with the 18th overall pick in the NFL Draft. He played five NFL seasons and was part of the Raiders’ 2002 Super Bowl team. Injuries kept him from a long NFL career. Stinchcomb is a college football analyst currently for ESPNU and the SEC Network. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Hines Ward
Forest Park High School Graduate
Hines Ward was a player who dominated on every football field he ever played. A Forest Park legend, Ward was selected for the 1993 AJC first-team Class 4A All-State team after passing for 1,575 yards and 14 touchdowns and rushing for 1,111 yards and 14 touchdowns. In his sophomore and junior seasons, he combined for 3,246 total yards and 32 total touchdowns, and he was named to the first-team All-Clayton/Henry team as just a 10th-grader. Ward ended up committing to the University of Georgia, where he served a Swiss Army Knife role, taking snaps at quarterback, running back and wide receiver. He compiled 3,870 total yards, which is second to Herschel Walker in school history. He was a first-team SEC selection in 1997 and a second-team SEC choice in 1996. Ward was selected in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he became a permanent wide receiver. In his career, Ward had six 1,000-yard seasons, made four Pro Bowls, earned two All-Pro second teams and won two Super Bowls, including Super Bowl XL MVP. Ward holds the Steelers franchise records in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, proving his dominance on all three levels of football.
Eric Zeier
Marietta High School Graduate
Before his time at Marietta, Zeier played high school football in Heidelberg, Germany. When his family moved to Georgia, he became a star quarterback and was the 1990 AJC, GSWA and Gatorade all-classification player of the year, a Parade All-American and the SuperPrep national player of the year. During his senior year, Zeier was 136-of-231 passing for 2,484 yards with 28 touchdowns. Zeier attended Georgia, where he finished in the top 10 of Heisman Trophy voting twice. Until Peyton Manning broke it, Zeier held the SEC record with 11,153 career passing yards, which made him the third NCAA Division I quarterback to surpass 11,000. After college, Zeier was chosen in the third round of the 1995 NFL Draft and with the 84th overall pick by the Browns. He played six NFL seasons. In 2007, he was ranked the No. 8 Georgia high school football player of all time by the AJC. Zeier has been the color commentator on Georgia radio broadcasts since 2007.