By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com  

Bios of the Class of 2023
(Videos: Michael A. Lough/Central Georgia Sports Report

            Upon taking over the microphone as the first inductee of the night to the Macon Sports Hall of Fame. Monquencio Hardnett had a goal.

            Well, a task, from his 7 year old son.

            “Who has no clue what I’ve done or who I am,” said Hardnett, who basketball career took him to Central and then old Middle Georgia College and the University of Connecticut. “He said, ‘Dad, just don’t embarrass me.’”

            Getting emotional in front of a few hundred people might qualify, and that’s what happened to Hardnett almost five minutes in when he shouted out to his parents.

            That’s what usually does it on such occasions.

            “My dad,” Hardnett said Tuesday night at the latest induction ceremony of the Macon Sports Hall of Fame, in a full Monument Room of the Macon Coliseum, his voice cracking. “I don’t know if it’s a testament to me or him, I’d like to say it’s him.

            “When your dad pulls up to your job and he’s bawling, crying. I’m thinking, ‘What’s wrong with this crazy man?’ And he said, ‘I’m just so proud of you.’”

            Then, a confession.

            “I’m a certified momma’s boy,” said Hardnett, now head boys basketball coach at Southwest. “Always have been, always will be. And I’m proud of that.”

            Hardnett was joined by Durant Brooks (Tattnall/Georgia Tech/NFL football), Greg Moore (FPD coach/athletics director), Charlie Simmons (Southwest football, basketball, baseball, Georgia Tech football, NFL), Joey Cranford (Stratford football, baseball, basketball, minor-league baseball), Cole Tidwell (golf), Kelvin Middleton (Southwest football, Wichita State, USFL, Pittsburgh Steelers), and Jamie Myers Watkins (FPD/Georgia Tech tennis).

            Tattnall’s GISA state championship teams of 1988, 1989, and 1990 were cited, and longtime PA announcer (Mercer, Mount de Sales, GISA/GIAA) Thom Mead was awarded the Bobby Pope Service to Sports Award.

            Moore has spent his entire adult life at FPD, his alma mater, other than going to college at Alabama. He lost his father in a car accident when he was very young, but there were memories.

            “There’s just not much better than a game of catch with your dad,” said Moore, who stopped, pursed his lips a few times, and looked up from his notes.

            “I didn’t make it very far.”

            He called his mother still his hero, noting how at the age of 25 she was suddenly widowed with two young children.

            “She made it work. And that’s where some of my blessings began to really unfold and shape the person that I’ve ultimately become.”

            She eventually remarried, and Moore thanked his stepfather. A brother, Jay, came along, growing up to serve in the military.

            Moore’s trip down Memory Lane was all but a Macon Sports Hall of Fame verbal highlight reel, starting with his early days and around Pendleton Homes with his grandmother while his mom worked.

            Friday nights were spent watching Central’s football team. And band.

            “The big orange, at Porter Stadium,” he said. “As an elementary school kid, I wanted to be Michael Jolly. He was my favorite player. I asked Santa Claus to bring me his jersey one year.

            “I also asked for drum major baton, so that when halftime rolled around, I could lead the Sugar Bear Marching Band.”

            His first favorite teacher was Elaine Huckabee Lucas – “she was my first introduction in the power of a great teacher” – and second was Sara Wilson, pals with Maconite J.T. Thomas, then of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

            “When she showed up at school with a Steelers’ J.T. Thomas jersey on one day, we were mesmerized.”

            He went on to list his local coaching mentors (other than then-Alabama head coach Bill Curry): Philip McElroy, Bobby Brown, Ed Middlebrooks, Steve Smith, Billy Kilgore, Joe Childs, Jimmy Turner, and Mark Farriba, among others.

            “They drove me around. They tought me about the games. They influenced me without trying. Mostly, they loved me and they taught me how to compete in a way that was first-class and respectful.”

            Kelvin Middleton opened up with a big grin.

            “Well, I made it,” he said.

            Nobody knew what was in store after Middleton talked of being contacted about his induction, and the ceremony. He texted a Hall committee member, and got a reply.

            “It started at 6 upstairs, plaque unveiling,” he said, reading the text. “(Then) downstairs in the monument room. Program is usually out by 8, or 8:15.”

            Then he looked at his watch and smiled. More than 18 minutes later …

            Charlie Simmons, a three-sport standout at Southwest, remembered growing up in a church-going family, and straying from that routine as he got holder. He admitted stealing something he heard recently that he felt was appropriate in describing his rise.

            “I keep God in my life, and it’s made me humble. I didn’t always stick with Him, but He always stuck with me.”

            Simmons said he started doing some things he shouldn’t have.

            “He continued to stick with me. We all have things that happen in our lives at some point in time that we don’t know that we’re gonna come back from. We don’t know how we’re going to make it through that next journey.”

            His biggest roadblock came as a freshman in high school when he suffered major knee injuries playing basketball.

            “I had no idea what the next step was,” he said, noting many don’t realize how difficult things can be for those who have accomplishments. “They didn’t see that time in college when I slipped and I didn’t get my work in, and my grades dropped and I had to sit out a semester and fight my way back to continue to play football.”

            Then the end of his college career came, and he thought that was the end of his football career.

            “They didn’t see … that God allowed me at some point in time, when I was running a 40, to run a 4.35 40, which cemented me to being able to go on and play in the NFL. I’ve done some great things, but God has always been there.”

            Simmons was part of Georgia Tech’s co-national title team in 1990, was drafted by Green Bay, and played with Washington and in the Canadian Football League. And still looks like he could do some damage.

            He had a huge contingent on hand, including his immediate family and parents. As most all such honorees, Simmons pointed out that being at the mic in front of so many friends and family is a team effort that takes up years and years.

            “I salute you guys,” he said. “Thank you for always, always being there for me, pushing, behind me, holding me up, and carrying me.”

Bibb County Scholar-Athletes

ACE: Olivia Deese and Evan Jordan
Central: Chloe McCrorey and Joseph Rodgers
Central Fellowship: Hannay Riley and Jeb Walls
Covenant: Evie Abbott and Ian Harry
FPD: Amelia Hardy and Cole Hetes
Howard: Sydnee McElveen and Ronald Christian
Mount de Sales: Sophie Bolan and William Cowart
Northeast: Jalayzha Williams and Johnny Williams
Rutland: Ciara Passmore and Joshua Moore
Southwest: Kimora Howard and Christopher Martin
Stratford: Gracie Jorgensen and Andy Cheek
Tattnall: Lindsey Paul and Brayden Smith
Westside: MacKenzie McDuffie and Daveon Henderson
Windsor: Toni Rogers and Jimmy Jones