SC Football Hall of Fame Announces 2017 Class

February 16, 2017

3:16 AM

The South Carolina Football Hall of Fame (SCFHOF) announced Monday the Class of 2017, and the date for the enshrinement ceremony.

The 2017 Enshrinement Ceremony will be held on the evening of April 20th at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Greenville. It is the organization's 5th Anniversary Celebration. 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 winners will also be honored at the ceremony.

The five inductees are Felix Anthony “Doc” Blanchard (the legacy inductee), Charles “Charlie” Brown, Fisher DeBerry, Lorenzo Levon Kirkland, and Dick Sheridan. Here’s a little information about each:

Doc Blanchard
- Born in McColl, SC
- Played college football at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Army West Point
- Won the Heisman Trophy Award, the Maxwell Award, and was the James E. Sullivan Award in 1945
- Featured on the cover of Time Magazine
- The first and only South Carolina-born football player to have won the Heisman
- 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”
Charlie Brown
- Born in Charleston and played for James Island High School
- Played college football at South Carolina State University
- Drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 1981 NFL Draft
- Won Super Bowl XVII with the Redskins
- He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1982 and 1983
- Served as an assistant coach for two College All-Star Bowl Games and the Medal of Honor Bowl National Team.
- Has held multiple free football camps for the underprivileged youth
Fisher DeBerry
- Born in Cheraw, SC
- Played college football and baseball at Wofford College
- Head coach of the Air Force Academy football team for 23 years and lead the team to 12 bowl games
- Won the Western Athletics Conference Coach of the Year three times
- Won the Paul Dodd National Coach of the Year Award in 1985
- He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011
- He is a member of the Independence Bowl Hall of Fame, Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, and the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame
- 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
- Born in Lamar, SC
- Earned All-American honors as a college football player for Clemson University
- Drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1992 NFL Draft
- Made the Pro Bowl twice
- Named an All-Pro twice
- Named to the NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team
- In 1996, he was named to Clemson's 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 has coached at all three levels and is currently completing a 2-year coaching internship as outside linebackers coach for the Arizona Cardinals
Dick Sheridan
- Graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1964
- He has coached football at the high school and collegiate levels
- Served as head coach at Furman University from 1978 to 1985 and was also the athletic director during the last three years
- Won 6 Southern Conference championships while at Furman
- 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
- Won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award and ACC Coach of the Year in 1986

To learn more about the SCFHOF and buy tickets for the enshrinement events, visit www.scfootballhof.org.