July 1, 2004

Charleston, SC - Currently, there are 123 members in The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame. Of those 123 inductees, 63 individuals or 52.1 percent of the Hall's total membership played football.

And if one adds former football coaches, a trainer, a broadcaster and several of the Hall of Fame's honorary inductees who were primarily football supporters, the percentage significantly increases.

So what can be drawn from all of this?

Before jumping to any conclusions, one needs to be reminded that The Citadel is beginning its 97th year of football (we missed the 1943-45 seasons because of World War II). We own only two league championships and one bowl victory, so we can't proclaim that all - or even most - of our teams have been winners on the field.

But they've certainly been winners off the field and goodness knows the sport of football at The Citadel has been popular. Citadel football players, especially those in our Hall of Fame, are and have been respected on campus since every cadet who isn't playing or working at the football games marches to the stadium and cheers for their beloved Bulldogs...their classmates, company-mates and eventual lifelong friends. Our loyal alumni base systematically crams nearly every available foot of the Johnson Hagood Stadium parking lots prior to home games to reminisce about past games, marching to them, or perhaps even playing in them. Our football fans remember, and they remember well. Past Citadel football players were also popular off campus because prior to cable television, we were the only football game in town. Citadel football players were local heroes as generations of fans witnessed their first football game at Johnson Hagood Stadium, and many in the Hall of Fame have rightfully achieved legendary status. And long before the Touchdown Cannon Crew toned down the amount of the artillery's gunpowder, every downtown Charlestonian and tourist alike knew precisely when The Citadel scored. They could literally feel it.

The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame remains the benchmark reserved for the best of the best. So is it any wonder that more than half of our Hall's inductees are football players? Not really.

Football is the school's flagship sport and it has been the rallying point for The Citadel Family ever since the team outgrew its playing field at Hampton Park after the 1916 season, when the Bulldogs finished 6-1-1, including a convincing 20-2 victory over South Carolina and narrow 3-0 triumph over Clemson. As a result of the team's success and overflow crowds at Hampton Park, then-Charleston mayor Richard Stoney instructed the city to create a new football facility. That's how Johnson Hagood Stadium came to be.

And because the historic and antiquated football stadium has been appropriately referred to as the "front porch" of the college, a new facility has long been in demand. The desire isn't necessarily for our current roster of Hall of Famers - more than half of which are football-related - but for our future ones and especially for our current and future Hall of Fame fans.

Football Players in the Hall of Fame

Budgie Broome '57

Jake Burrows '40

Kenny Caldwell '79

John Carlisle '31

Bob Carson '73

Paul Chapman '53

Joe Chefalo '59

Greg Davis '88

Don Dease '71

Ken Diaz '69

Gene Dotson '76

Jack Douglas '92

John Douglas '27

Charles Fabian '51

Cecil Johnson '11

Graham Edwards '39

Jim Ettari '83

Hank Foster '41

John Frost '22

Paul Gillis '80

Lee Glaze '86

Alvin Heinsohn '21

Rusty Holt '73

Jack Huddle '51

Joe Isaac '69

Larkin Jennings '33

Andrew Johnson '76

Richard King '29

Henry "Stump" Kennedy '41

Paul Maguire '60

John Mamajek '53

Dale Matthews '50

Cal McCombs '67

Frank McNeil '38

Lyvonia "Stump" Mitchell '81

Jerry Nettles '61

W.F. "Gunner" Ohlandt '51

Tony Passander '70

Bush Peebles '39

Paul Petrich '53

Joe Pipczynski '83

Herman "Kooksie" Robinson '38

George Rogers '10

Jack Rogers '22

Orville Rogers '38

Brian Ruff '77

Andy Sabados '39

Bobby Schwarze '59

Ephie Seabrook '27

Norm Seabrooks '73

E.P. Skelton '30

Jack Simmons '22

John Small '70

Lester Smith '92

Ray Swetenberg '27

F.W. "Billy" Symmes '35

Andrew Victor '44

Burke Watson '48

John Weeks '17

Teddy Weeks '27

Billy Whaley '62

Charles Willard '32

Paul Wolf '43