FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 13, 2017

The SC Football Hall of Fame announces the Class of 2017 and the 5th Anniversary
Enshrinement Ceremony Celebration

Greenville, S.C.: The South Carolina Football Hall of Fame (SCFHOF) announced today the
Class of 2017, and the date for the enshrinement ceremony.

The 2017 Enshrinement Ceremony is set for the evening of April 20, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency
in Downtown Greenville. It is the organizations 5th Anniversary Celebration. Prior to the
ceremony, a golf tournament is set for the Green Valley Country Club and a sporting clay event,
with more information to be determined. The Class of 2017 will include five inductees, one
being a legacy inductee, a first-time award. The legacy inductee honors those who have come
from an earlier era but laid the foundation for great football in the state of South Carolina. The
2017 Humanitarian of the Year Award and the 2016 Collegiate Player of the Year Award
presented by Hales Jewelers winners will also be honored at the ceremony.

The five inductees include Felix Anthony Doc Blanchard, the legacy inductee, Charles
Charlie Brown, Fisher DeBerry, Lorenzo Levon Kirkland, and Dick Sheridan.

Doc Blanchard was born in McColl, S.C. He played college football at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Army West Point, where he won the Heisman Trophy Award, the
Maxwell Award and was the first football player to ever win the James E. Sullivan Award, all in
1945, when he was featured on the cover of Time Magazine. He is the first and only South
Carolina-born football player to have won the Heisman (George Rogers, Class of 2013, 1980
Heisman born in Georgia). Blanchard is so significant that The U.S. Army awards a high school
player participating in the U.S. Army All American Bowl its highest honor The Doc Blanchard
Award. This award keeps his success, legacy, and life alive. Blanchard played himself in the
1947 movie The Spirit of West Point, served 25 years in the United States Air Force, where he
retired with the rank of Colonel, and is a member of the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame
(1961) and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame (1994).

Charlie Brown was born in Charleston, S.C. and played for James Island High School. He played
college football at South Carolina State University and was drafted by the Washington Redskins
in the 1981 NFL Draft. In his rookie season, he helped the Redskins win Super Bowl XVII. He
was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1982 and 1983. He played six seasons in the NFL for the
Washington Redskins and Atlanta Falcons. He had 220 receptions for 3,548 yards and 25
touchdowns during his NFL career. He served as head coach for the Savannah High Blue Jackets
and Kingstree Senior High School. He also served as an assistant coach for two College All-Star
Bowl Games and the Medal of Honor Bowl National Team. In 1989, he received his certification
as an educator. His goal was to give back, help kids stay on the right track, and reach their
dreams. He has held multiple free football camps for the underprivileged youth. The camps are
sponsored by the Brown-McCrone Foundation, and our coached by Brown, local coaches, and
former and current NFL players. He plans on expanding the camps to other communities outside
of the lowcountry in the future. He is a member of the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame
(2004).

Fisher DeBerry was born in Cheraw, S.C. He played college football and baseball at Wofford
College. He is most known for being the head coach of the Air Force Academy football team for
23 years and leading the team to 12 bowl games. He won the Western Athletics Conference
Coach of the Year three times and was honored with the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award
in 1985. In 1996, he served as president of the American Football Coaches Association and has
served as chairman of the ethics committee. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of
Fame in 2011, his first year of eligibility. Also, he is a member of the Independence Bowl Hall of
Fame, Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, and the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame (2002). He
currently helps assists single parent families with the Fisher DeBerry Foundation, a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization helping pay to send children to sport camps and other activities.

Levon Kirkland was born in Lamar, S.C. He earned All-American honors as a college football
player for Clemson University and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1992 NFL Draft.
He made the Pro Bowl twice, and was named as an All-Pro twice and to the NFLs 1990s All-
Decade Team. Over an 11-year career he accumulated 1,029 tackles and recorded 6 seasons of
over 100 total tackles. He played in 176 games, starting 155. This does not include the 13 playoff
games he played. In 1996, he was named to Clemsons All-Centennial team. He was inducted
into the Clemson University Hall of Fame in 2001 and the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame
in 2008. He was an educational speaker for the National Collegiate Scouting Association
teaching student-athletes nationwide on the college recruiting process. He has coached at all
three levels and currently is completing a 2-year coaching internship as outside linebackers
coach for the Arizona Cardinals. He earned the internship for winning the Bill Bidwell Coaching
Fellowship.
Dick Sheridan was born in Augusta, G.A. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in
1964. He has coached football at the high school and collegiate levels. He served as head coach
at Furman University from 1978 to 1985 and was the athletic director also in those last three
years. He won 6 Southern Conference championships while at Furman and was named the AFCA
Division I-AA Coach of the year in 1985. From 1986-1992, he was head coach at North Carolina
State University and led the team to six bowl games. He won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year
Award and ACC Coach of the Year in 1986. Last November he was honored for the 30th
anniversary of his winning the Boddy Dodd Coach of the Year Award at an NC State football
game.

About the SC Football Hall of Fame

The South Carolina Football Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, business, and media
professionals from the Palmetto State past and present, who created a historic and significant
impact on college and/or professional football and helps promote and preserve the game of
football and those who play it.

The SCFHOF is a non-profit organization out of Greenville, SC that aims to support former
college football players through their Business Connect Program, and player safety program.

Mission of the SCFHOF:

The mission of SCFHOF is to honor South Carolina football legends, support player career
transitions, improve player safety, and promote the game of football and South Carolina.

Learn more about the SCFHOF and buy tickets for the golf or sporting clay events at
www.scfootballhof.org and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @scfootballhof.