The late Houston Hogg, a former Daviess County High School football player who helped desegregate football at the University of Kentucky, was among seven people to be honored Saturday with the inaugural plaques for the Owensboro Daviess County Youth Football League Wall of Fame.
The plaques were unveiled during a ceremony Saturday and adorn the entry sign of the Waymond Morris football complex.
The Wall of Fame will be updated periodically with new plaques to commemorate people who have played locally and progressed to the NFL.
“We’ve been working on this for about 18 months to try to find the names,” ODCYFL President Robert Bradfield said. “We’ve got a couple of players in college right now that could very well go to the NFL. So we’re going to keep doing this hopefully every year.”
Hogg’s plaque sits alone on one side of the entry sign. The description highlights his impact on the Southeastern Conference as one of the first four football players to break the color barrier in the late 1960s.
Houston’s son Ron thanked the City of Owensboro for honoring his father.
“He was a blessing to us and so many lives. I hope people got to meet him, and everyone that did would know God was in his life,” Ron said.
The other six inductees, listed below with the teams for which they played, have plaques on the opposite side of the entry sign:
- Zane Beehn: Apollo High School, University of Kentucky, San Diego Chargers
- Chris Brown: Notre Dame, Pittsburgh Steelers
- Vince Buck: Owensboro High School, Central State Ohio, New Orleans Saints
- Mark Higgs: Owensboro High School, University of Kentucky, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals
- Justin Miller: Owensboro High School, Clemson University, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions
- Kenny Willis: Owensboro High School, University of Kentucky, Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Giants
ODCYFL Volunteer Sarah Price said they will also begin honoring long-term league volunteers with a plaque on the wall to thank them for their service. The first inductee was Robert Bradfield, her father.
“No one is more deserving than this guy right here,” she said. “He’s my dad. He has given over 40 years to this league. He is the president, but he is so much more. He’s the uniform cleaner, the concessions buyer, maintenance guy. He does anything that has to happen in this field.”
