April 19, 2002
Former Baylor stars Jack Lummus and Santana Dotson were among seven players inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in Waco on April 13.
Jack Lummus, who played high school football at Ennis during the 1930s, represented that era, while Dotson, a former all-state player from Houston's Jack Yates high School, was the inductee from the 1980s.
Lummus was a 6-foot-3, 175-pound end for Coach Brooks Conover's Ennis Lions. He also participated in track and played his Baylor football and baseball in 1939 and 1940.
In 1941, Lummus played professional football for the New York Giants, who won the Eastern Division that year. He joined the Marine Corps in January of 1942 and was killed in action on Iwo Jima on March 8, 1945. On that day, he had led three successful charges on enemy positions before receiving a fatal wound. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on May 5, 1946, by President Harry Truman. In 1986 the U.S. Navy named one of its ships, the MV First Lieutenant Jack Lummus, in his honor.
Dotson played for Coach Luther Booker at Yates 1984 to 1986. A 6-foot-5, 264-pound defensive end, he was all-district and all-state while leading Yates to a 36-4 record during his high school career. In 1986 he was selected to the Houston Chronicle's All-Greater Houston Team and was named the 1986 Defensive Player of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Houston.
Dotson lettered at Baylor from 1988-1991, tallying 193 career tackles and 18 sacks. He was a three-time All-SWC selection and was a consensus All-American as a senior. Dotson played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1992-1995 and the Green Bay Packers from1996-2001. He was a member of Green Bay's Super Bowl XXXI championship team.
Others players inducted were:
? Bill Forester (1940s) - Woodrow Wilson High of Dallas, SMU and the Green Bay Packers
? Buddy Dial (1950s) - Magnolia, Rice, Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.
? Gary "Moon" Mullins (1960s) - San Angelo and University of Houston.
? Roosevelt Leaks (1970s) - Brenham, University of Texas, Baltimore Colts and Buffalo Bills
? Rodney Thomas (1990s) - Groveton, Texas A&M, Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons.
Another inductee was Spike Dykes, who coached at Coahoma, Belton, Big Spring, Alice, and Midland Lee before moving to the college ranks where he coached at Texas, New Mexico, Mississippi and Texas Tech.
In a special category, sportswriter George Breazeale of the Austin American-Statesman was honored for his coverage of more than 200 state football playoff games and 18 state championship games.
Other former Baylor players who are in the Hall of Fame are John "Boody" Johnson, Waco High School (1926-28), Jack Sisco Waco High (1924-26), Botchey Koch, Temple (1928-1930), Doyle Traylor, Temple (1955-57), Ronnie Bull, Bishop (1959-61), Lawrence Elkins, Brownwood (1962-64), Sam Coates, Waco (1924-26), Billy Patterson, Hillsboro (1936-38), Cody Carlson, San Antonio Churchill (1983-86), Morris Southall, Brownwood (1940), Terry Southall, Brownwood (1964-66), Si Southall, Brownwood (1969-71), Hayden Fry, Odessa (1947-50), Thomas Everett, Dangerfield (1983-86), and Cotton Davidson, Gatesville (1951-53).
The Gordon Wood Award, presented each year to an especially noteworthy high school football team that displays good sportsmanship, the ability to overcome challenges, has the support of its community and has achieved success on the field was awarded to Killeen High School.
Killeen High is coached by David Wetzel, who played football at Baylor in 1990 and 1991.
Former Baylor Coach Teaff, president of the American College Coaches Association, served as master of ceremonies for the 2002 induction dinner.
The Texas High School Football Hall of Fame started in Breckenridge in 1968, but after five years the shrine became inactive. In 1982 Jim Evans, a former Baylor football player and current member of the "B" Association's board of directors, represented the Waco Chamber of Commerce in making a successful bid to bring the Hall of Fame to Waco. He was joined by Tommy Henderson, president of the Paul Tyson Tiger Association.
The Hall of Fame reopened in 1983 as part of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame complex located at 1108 University Parks Drive in Waco.
